Mighty Morphin: A Dire Situation
by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Summary: When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.
1. A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, so I decided that I wanted to write a new Power Ranger story but I needed a new angle and a new place to start, so instead of starting from Ninja Storm as I usually do, I've decided to go back to the beginning and start from Mighty Morphin' - this new series as a twist that I have wanted to write for a while, so please don't judge too hard when you read it. Criticism is welcome, flames aren't. Enjoy.

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

_**Character Profile**_

**Name:** Nuala Archer (**Pronounced "Noo-la"**)

**Age:** 17

**Appearance: **Nuala is a very beautiful girl. She has long red hair, blue eyes and tanned skin. She stands at 5'5 and is very slender. Her notable feature is her Irish accent which people find adorable, as well as a strange birthmark on her hip and a distinctive burn mark on her right hand. Nuala has a Gaelic symbol for family tattooed on the inside of her right wrist, as well as a butterfly on her left ankle. Her clothes are reasonably sensible and she wears an Amethyst locket which holds a picture of a 12 month year old baby.

**Hobbies:** Running, Roller/Figure Skating, Horseback Riding.

**Personality:** Nuala is the compassionate and kind-hearted nurturer of the group. She has a shy personality and is often sometimes not very open about how she feels.

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Seventeen-year-old Nuala Archer glanced up from the magazine she had been flipping through and set her sights on her new home town - Angel Grove. It had been six months since her mother had announced they were moving, and while in a way she was over the moon to be getting out of Dublin, Nuala was also sad to be leaving her home behind.

"Well, what do you think?" her mother, Lana asked from beside her.

"Pretty good," Nuala agreed.

"What about you, Ci?" Lana asked, glancing back at her thirteen-year-old son in the back seat.

Ciaran shrugged as he gazed out of the window. "It's OK, I guess," he said. He was the least happiest person to be moving so far away from home. He had moaned and groaned for the whole six months after he had learned her would be moving; his reasons were the same as Nuala's he didn't want to leave his home behind, but he also knew that they had to leave.

"Oh, come on you two," Lana said. "I thought you were excited that we were moving to California?"

"We are," Nuala said. "We're just missing home."

"We're here for you, darling," Lana told her daughter. "You remember what it was like back in Dublin. I just had to get you out of there."

"I know, Mum," Nuala said, flashing her mother a smile. "Thank you. Give us a few days; we'll perk up, right, Ciaran?"

Ciaran nodded and glanced to his left. Next to him was a large black car seat/carry cot, and inside, sound asleep was his twelve-month-year-old nephew, Ellis.

"Nuala, he's still sleeping," Ciaran said to his sister.

"That's OK," Nuala replied. "He's worn out."

"But he hasn't done anything!"

Nuala chuckled and glanced over her shoulder at her brother. "True, but aren't you tired?" she asked.

"Maybe a little," Ciaran replied.

"Sometimes doing nothing is tiring work."

"So can I go to sleep too?"

"Sure, why not?" Nuala asked. "I'll wake you when we get to our new home."

Ciaran grinned, closed the book he had been reading, and slumped in his seat. He closed his eyes and was soon asleep.

Lana rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Why did you tell him that?" she asked.

"Oh come on, Mum, we've got at least another hour before we reach our new place," Nuala said. "Besides, the more he sleeps now, the more energy he'll have later to help us unpack."

"You're too soft on him, you know that?"

Nuala grinned, and rolled her head to look back out of the window. Angel Grove didn't seem all that bad from here, but at the moment it was just a tiny city on the edge of a huge mountain. She'd have to wait until she got into the heart before she could make a proper judge of what she was getting herself in for.

They soon reached their destination, a well-maintained, whitewood bungalow. It was significantly smaller than their last home, but it was perfect for the small family of four. They were now situated in a cul-de-sac with most of the other bungalows looking more extravagant, but money and show meant nothing to Nuala and her family, they just wanted a fresh start.

After parking the car outside the house, Lana got out and breathed in heavily, absorbing the fresh air. "Do you smell that?" she asked as her daughter climbed out of the car.

"Smoky air?" Nuala asked, knocking her brother's window as she walked around the car to the trunk.

"No... well, yes, but not the answer I was looking for," Lana said.

"Oh, then what answer was you looking for?" Nuala asked, wrenching open the trunk and pulled out as many bags as she could muster.

"It smells like a new start," Lana replied, taking two suitcases from her daughter and opening the gate to her new home. "Nuala, dear, do you have the keys?"

"I thought you had them?" Nuala asked.

"No, I gave them to you," Lana said.

"I don't have them," Nuala said. "Ciaran, do you have the keys?"

"I put them on the dashboard," Ciaran said, groggily getting out of the car. He grabbed the keys from the front, and run them up to his mother on the porch.

Nuala sighed and ruffled her brother's hair as he returned. "What would we do without you, huh?" she asked.

"Be locked out?" Ciaran asked, grabbing two suitcases and taking them inside.

Nuala chuckled and closed the trunk. She set two suitcases down inside the garden of her new home, and turned back to the car. "Now for the most important thing," she murmured, opening the back door and reaching in to unclip the seatbelt around the car seat.

"Mama!"

"Hello, tiger toes," Nuala chuckled as she looked up into the beautiful blue eyes of her son. "Did you enjoy your sleep?"

The baby, also known as Ellis, giggled and waved his hands in his mother's face.

"Nuala, do you need help?" Lana shouted from the doorstep.

"There are two cases to be taken in," Nuala called back. "Mum, can you send Ciaran out, I'm a little stuck!"

Nuala heard her mother call out to her brother, and next second Ciaran appeared opposite his sister. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"My bracelet is caught on the seatbelt," Nuala said. "Untangle me."

Ciaran nodded and unwound the grey seatbelt from around his sister's wrist and freed her. "There, you're free," he teased.

"I wish," Nuala said, easing herself and the car seat out of the car. She looped her arm through the handle, and slammed the door behind her.

Using her own spare set of keys, Nuala then locked the car up tight and followed her brother into the house. It was half empty, seeing as most of their furniture wasn't going to be arriving until tomorrow. The only essentials they had were clothes, pillows, cushions, along with a few blankets and toys.

"When did you say the rest of our stuff was getting here?" Nuala asked.

"Midday tomorrow," Lana answered.

Nuala nodded and looked into the big room that would soon become their living room. "Which room did you say was mine?" she asked her mother, who was kneeling in the middle of the room looking through boxes.

"The one at the far end of the house," Lana replied. "It's overlooking the back garden, and it should have an adjoining bathroom for you and Ellis. Oh, see if there is a cot in there for me, would you? The retailer said that there should be."

"Thanks, Mum," Nuala said, walking down the hall to her new bedroom. She eased open the door and stepped inside. The room was a faded pink colour, and Nuala had to wrinkle her nose at the state of it. Obviously the retailer hadn't seen fit to clear away half the junk before selling it. She'd clear away the junk later, and then start on redecorating. "Here we go, buddy," she said to Ellis, as she set him on the floor and unbuckled him. "Our new home."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

It took most of the morning to clear the bedroom, and unpack the few items she had with her; most of them were baby clothes and toys, but that didn't really matter to Nuala, as long as Ellis was sorted she didn't really care about herself, she could always drag her mother shopping over the next few days to buy new clothes. It was also a good way to get used to the city.

By noon, Nuala was sitting in the front garden watching as Ellis played with his building blocks. Behind her, sitting in the shade was Ciaran.

"Hey, why don't you two go and introduce yourself to some of the neighbors?" Lana asked, sticking her head out the front door.

"Why?" Ciaran asked.

"Because it beats sitting around here doing nothing," Lana said. "Go on, I can deal with the rest of the stuff. Nuala, don't forget to put a hat on that baby, the sun is warmer here than it is in Dublin."

Nuala saluted her mother and turned back to her son; he was trying to push himself to his feet but kept falling back onto his bum. "Nearly there, buddy," she said, helping him stand. Ellis took a few wobbly steps towards his mother and fell into her arms.

"Are you going to meet the neighbors?" Ciaran asked.

"Maybe as well," Nuala replied. "I mean, we're going to have to do it eventually, right?"

"Can I come with you then?"

"Sure. Could you grab me a hat from the bedroom? They should be on the bed; I haven't exactly put them away yet."

Ciaran nodded and run back inside his house, Nuala could hear her mother shouting at him for running indoors and her brother shouting back an apology. Nuala shook her head and turned back to Ellis. "That uncle of yours," she said. "What are we going to do with him, uh?"

Ellie cooed and grabbed his mother's face with his hands. He blew a raspberry, and Nuala laughed as she stood up, balancing Ellis on her hip.

"Exactly," she said, walking back to the house and grabbing the pushchair from the side. Kneeling down, Nuala clipped Ellis inside and took the hat from Ciaran as he returned. "Right, where do we start?"

"There," Ciaran said, pointing at the house opposite them.

"Let's go."

The two siblings walked up the drive of the house opposite them. Ciaran jumped forward to press the doorbell and turned around to face his sister as they waited for the door to be answered, after ten minutes both siblings came to the conclusion that either no one was home or no one wanted to talk to her.

"Off to a great start," Ciaran grumbled.

"Come on," Nuala said. "I'm sure someone is home. Let's try the next house." She led him on to the next bungalow, which was somewhat designed similar to her own, except this one had a garage.

Ciaran frowned at the blue car in the driveway and looked to his sister. "Who keeps a car in the drive when they have a driveway?" he asked.

Nuala shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "Maybe they're like grandpa? Keep all the junk in the garage."

Ciaran laughed and pressed the doorbell of the second house. After only a few minutes, a forty-something man answered. He had short, mousey-blonde hair, strong features and glasses. "Can I help you?" he asked. His voice was unexpected and a little intimidating, intimidating enough for Ciaran to retreat behind his sister.

"Uh, hi, I'm Nuala Archer. I live next door," she stammered. "This is my brother Ciaran and my son, Ellis. We just moved in across the road, and we thought we'd stop by and introduce ourselves."

The man's eyes swept over the three of them, before resting on the baby in the pushchair. "You said he was your son?" he asked.

Nuala nodded. "Yes, sir," she said, tentatively.

"How old are you?"

"Uh, seventeen."

"My son's age," the man said.

Nuala forced a smile and nodded. She could tell by the tone of the man's voice that he was judging her for having a baby at seventeen, she was used to people judging her on the fact that she was an underage mother, but many people were quick to judge the situation before knowing all the facts.

"I can only assume you don't know anyone yet," the man said. Nuala shook her head. "Wait here," he said, turning to shout over his shoulder. "Billy!"

Nuala looked down at Ciaran, who shrugged and then looked back around as another teenager appeared. He was slim, with short dirty-blonde hair and glasses; by his clothes Nuala could already tell that he was the geeky-type of guy. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Nuala replied, somewhat nervously.

"Billy, this is Nuala. She and her family have just moved in," said Billy's father bluntly before he disappeared.

Nuala stepped back away from Billy's door, as he stepped outside. He closed the door behind him and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he returned his full attention back to Nuala and her brother.

"Well, I'm Billy," the boy said, holding out his hand.

"Nuala," the girl said, reaching across the pushchair to shake his hand. "This is my brother Ciaran," she motioned to the younger lad next to her, "and my son Ellis."

"Your son?" Billy asked, taken by surprise.

Nuala nodded. "Before you jump to conclusions," she added hastily, "it's not what you think. The story isn't something that is easily explained."

Billy held his hands up in defence, and smiled. "I'm not the type to judge others without knowing them," he said. "He's adorable. How old?"

"Twelve months."

Billy smiled. "So, you just moved here?" he asked.

"Yeah, today."

"That's cool - where did you move from?"

"Dublin, Ireland," Ciaran answered, quickly.

"I thought I recognise the accent," Billy said. "It's cute."

Nuala bit her lip and lowered her gaze as a dull blush rose quickly in her cheeks. Ciaran laughed at his sister's embarrassment.

"Are you going to be attending Angel Grove High?" Billy asked.

"Yes. I have an aptitude test on Friday," Nuala answered. "I dropped out of my old school, and I don't have many grades to work out which year I should be in - what year are you in?"

"Eleven."

Nuala frowned, and quickly calculated the school years in her head. "So, that would make you a junior?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Cool."

"What about you, Ciaran?" Billy asked.

"Freshman," Ciaran answered.

Billy nodded. "Hey, listen," he added to Nuala. "I'm heading into town soon to meet a few of my friends, why don't you come with me? I could show you around."

"Sure," Nuala said, nodding. "That'd be fun. Just let me just ask my Mum to watch Ellis for a few hours."

"Cool. Meet you here in five?" Billy asked. "I have to change first."

"OK," Nuala nodded, turning down the drive. She lead Ciaran across the road and down to their new home, their mother was sitting on the porch watching them with a huge grin on her face. "What?" Nuala asked, uneasily.

"I see you made a friend," Lana said, folding her arms. "He's cute too."

"Mum!" Nuala whined. "No, just no!"

Lana chuckled and unclipped her grandson from his pushchair. "Looks like mummy's got a new boyfriend," she said, teasingly. "What do you think about that, huh?"

Ellis babbled and reached his arms out for his mother.

Nuala took him and hugged him tightly. "There's only room for two boys in my life," she said, "isn't that right, Ci?"

"If you mean me and Ellis, then we better be," Ciaran said.

Lana and Nuala chuckled, and Ciaran slipped back into the bungalow for a drink. Nuala and her mother could hear him tinkering around in the kitchen, and then faucet started to spurt water.

"Mum," Nuala started, unsure on how to ask. She hadn't been in Angel Grove a day yet, and already she needed a favour.

"Yes," Lana said, holding her arms out to Ellis. "Go. Just don't be late."

Nuala looked surprised. "How did you know?" she asked.

"I was your age once, you know," Lana laughed, tickling her grandson and making him giggle. "I could tell by the look on your face when you came back. Besides, you're not going to make many friends if you're stuck inside all day every day. Just remember your responsibilities."

"I will," Nuala said, leaning across to kiss her son on the cheek. "I love you, tiger toes," she said. "See you later, Mum, bye Ci."

"Learn the layout," Ciaran said. "Memorize it. I want you to show me tomorrow!"

Nuala nodded, and looked over her shoulder as the sound of a door closer echoed across the street. She saw Billy walking down his drive, and turned back to her mother. "I won't be late," she promised. "Just a few hours.

"OK. Say 'bye, Mummy'," Lana said, lifting Ellis's hand and pretending to make him wave at his mother.

Nuala's heart ached at the sight, and she blew him a kiss as Billy crossed the road to join her.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Billy and Nuala walked side-by-side through town and towards the juice bar. As they walked, Billy explained about the town, the school, and his friends. Jason, Zack, Kimberly and Trini. Apparently Jason was a talented martial artist who enjoyed teaching others, and often held martial arts classes at the juice bar, it was what Billy had been preparing for when Nuala had knocked at his door.

Kimberly was a typical valley's girl, but had a heightened awareness for her friends. She was also, according to Billy, a very capable gymnast and was often found on the balance beam at Ernie's gym, she also had a taste for music and amazing artistic talents.

Trini was the gentle and kind-natured member of Billy's friends. She also seemed to have a calm and composed attitude, and never seemed to show any fear. She was also a sort of 'go-green' type of girl.

Zack was the last of Billy's friends. He was the prankster of the group, and had a particular enjoyment for holidays such as Halloween. His love for dance was what caught Nuala's attention, but while she wasn't a dancer herself, she did know a few basic moves.

"When I was younger," she told Billy, "my Mum and Dad enrolled me in a few ballet lessons, but they never took off. The only time I ever really practiced my moves was on the ice."

"You're a figure skater?"

"It was something that I wanted to pursue," Nuala nodded. "I remember when I was younger there was a lake, not that far from where I lived, and I would go there every winter just to skate around."

"Sounds fun."

"It was."

"You seemed to enjoy Dublin," Billy said. "Why did you move here?"

"The reason behind why and how I had Ellis," Nuala said. "I'm sorry, Billy, it's still a sore subject and I don't really want to talk about it."

Billy nodded. "It's OK, I understand," he said. "Come on, the others should already be here." He held open the door to the juice bar and allowed Nuala to walk in first; he followed and led her down the hall to the opening leading into the gym. "Hey fellas," he called, spotting two boys on the training mats.

"Yo, Billy, what's up?" the dark-skinned boy called back as he noticed Billy's clothing.

"Well, I think I am mentally and physically prepared for my first karate class," Billy said, walking towards his friends. "Oh, guys, by the way, this is Nuala," he added.

"Hi," Nuala said, raising her hand nervously.

"She's just moved here from Dublin, Ireland," Billy said.

The two guys each held out a hand for Nuala to shake, which she did rather quickly.

"Hey, nice to meet you," the boy in a red vest said. "I'm Jason, this is Zack."

"Same," Nuala said before her attention was drawn to the otherside of the gym. She noticed two girls, one with long black hair and wearing yellow, and another with brunette hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a pink leotard. They looked like they were being harassed by a couple of wannabe-punks.

"Excuse me," Zack said, as he walked over to his two friends. "Hey, you heard what she said," he said to the two wannabe's.

"Oh, what do you know?" the biggest of the two sneered. "The dancer wants to be a fighter."

"It's OK, Zack, we can handle these two," the brunette said.

"Oh really?" the bigger of the two wannabe's said. "Let's some them some Karate, Skull." The two of them rushed at the two girl's but missed, as they each grabbed the two guys' arms and flipped them over onto the training mat.

Nuala winced as she watched the two boys' clunk their heads together as they landed, and kids all around them started laughing.

"You guys should definitely join Jason's karate class," the brunette said, as Zack and her friend chuckled at the boy's misfortune.

Billy looked to Nuala and grabbed her arm, pulling her aside. "The one in pink is Kim, and the one in yellow is Trini," he explained. "The two on the floor are Bulk and Skull. I recommend staying away from them."

"I'm guessing they're wannabe bullies?" Nuala asked.

"They can be pretty mean when they want to be," Billy said. "Look, I've got to get to class. Why don't you hang out with Kim and Trini until I finish?"

Nuala nodded and wrapped her arms around herself as Billy walked away with Jason and Zack; she noticed the two girl's watching her closely before walking over and introducing themselves.

"I'm Nuala," she said, her accent thick.

"Hey, you're the new girl that Mrs. Applebee was talking about," Trini said.

Nuala forced a smile. The idea of the whole of Angel Grove High knowing that she was starting wasn't something that she had thought about, she had just wanted to come to a new school and slink back into normality. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

"Hey, come and sit with us," Kim said. "We can get to know each other better while we watch the guy's."

"Good idea, Kim," Trini said, linking her arm through Nuala's. "Come on, let's get our usual table."

The two girls's led Nuala over to an empty booth, and sat down overlooking the Karate class. As they watched Billy, Jason and Zack train they talked about themselves and their lives, when they learned that Nuala had a twelve month year old son, they reacted as she expected them too.

Several questions about her age was fired rapidly at her, and she had to hold her hands up to calm the two girl's down.

"Yes, I have a son," Nuala said. "His name is Ellis. Like I told Billy, the story is a sore subject and I don't really want to relive it by explaining it to you, but maybe one day I will."

Meanwhile out on the mat, Billy was struggling with the karate basics.

"Billy, don't worry," Jason assured him. "I mean, even I was a beginner once."

Billy nodded and looked up to where Nuala was sitting as Jason returned to the front of his class. Nuala caught Billy's eye and smiled, lifting his spirits as he turned his attention once again to Jason.

"All right, class, what is it that martial arts help us develop?" Jason asked. "Billy?"

"Courage, kindness, integrity, fitness, loyalty and discipline," Billy answered.

"That's good," Jason said with a smile. "You memorized that quickly."

"Hey!" the bully, Bulk, shouted as he strode towards Jason, pushing others, including Billy aside as he did. "Geek! Teach us how to beat people up."

"Yeah!" the other bully, Skull, said, shrieking loudly in his attempt to mimic a karate yell.

"Martial arts wasn't developed to hurt others," Jason replied, calmly.

"We did not sign up for a geeky karate class," Bulk said.

"OK, Bulk," Jason nodded. "Maybe you're ready for some more advanced training techniques."

"Oh, OK," Bulk said, cracking his knuckles.

"Try this," Jason said, preparing himself for a side kick.

Bulk scoffed. "Anything you can do, I can do better, baby," he said. "Hee-ya!" he cried out, mimicking Jason's move flawlessly.

"Tornado Kick," Jason said, spinning around and kicking his leg up high on the second spin.

Bulk jumped up and aimed high, but stumbled and hit the ground with a thud, eliciting laughter from the kids around the centre. Even Nuala found that she couldn't help but giggle.

"Class dismissed," Jason called to the others. They each bowed in respect, before walking away.

Sighing in defeat, Billy walked over to where Nuala, Trini and Kim were sitting, and slumped into a seat beside the new girl.

"Aw, cheer up, Billy," Nuala said. "For a first lesson I think you did really well."

"You think?" Billy asked, perking up slightly.

"Uh-huh," Nuala said, smiling.

"I don't know if I've got what it takes," Billy said, shaking his head.

"It's all a state of mind, Billy," Trini said. "You don't need to be strong for martial arts."

"Yeah, man, it's all up here," Zack agreed, tapping the side of his head.

"Hey guys," said a slightly dumpy man as he placed a tray of smoothies on the table. "Who ordered the spinach juice?"

"Spinach juice?" Nuala repeated, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Hi, I don't believe we've met," the man said. "I'm Ernie."

"I'm Nuala."

"Pretty name. It's Irish, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"Lovely place."

Nuala giggled as the place started to shake. Tables overturned, and kids screamed as they made a break for the door. "What's happening - is it an earthquake?" she asked, gripping on to the table for support.

"Everybody, stay calm!" Ernie yelled.

"Oh, man, must be a big one," Zack said as he staggered to his feet. Nuala stood, unsteadily, and tried to make it to the door. She had to get home; she had to get back to Ellis. She couldn't believe on her first day in a new place, and while away from her son, an Earthquake struck.

"Nuala, be careful!" Billy said, catching her as she tumbled over into the bar.

"Billy, I have to get home," Nuala said. "My baby..."

"Oh, My God... what's happening?" Kim yelled.

"This is too weird," Trini agreed.

"Hold on!" Jason called to the others, before a red beam of energy covered him and he disappeared.

Nuala's eyes widened as one-by-one Kim, Trini, Zack and Billy disappeared too, then her vision blurred and she felt herself being lifted off of the ground.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Feeling herself falling, Nuala hit the ground between Billy and Jason, and groaned as she found herself staring at a wide ceiling. Bright lights flickered to life all around her, and a huge blue cylinder stood on the far wall.

"Where are we?" Nuala asked, tightly holding onto Billy's arm as he helped her to stand.

"This isn't exactly the mall, is it?" Kim asked, looking around.

"This place is magnificent," Billy said, tugging Nuala up into the centre of the circular consoles.

"I don't get it," Jason said. "How did we end up here?"

"I just want to know where here is," Trini said.

"And how do we get back to Angel Grove?" Nuala added. She was still worried about her mother, brother and baby, after that earthquake she was pretty sure they were worried about her too.

"Maybe the answers are in these controls," Billy said, stepping closer to the consoles. He pressed a few buttons, before an overactive robot trudged into view.

"No, no, don't touch that!" it said, falling over onto his face in its haste to stop them from tampering with anything else.

"Whoa," Billy breathed, helping the bot up. "A fully sentient, multifunctional automaton. Never seen anything like it."

"Welcome humans."

Nuala jumped in surprise as a giant floating head appeared in the cylinder behind her, she covered her mouth as a scream ripped out and echoed around the room.

"So, who are you?" Jason asked, placing a comforting and reassuring hand on Nuala's shoulder.

"More like _what_ are you?" Kim asked.

"I am Zordon, an interdimensional being caught in a time warp," the floating head explained.

"And my name is Alpha 5," the robot said.

"Excuse me, but will, like somebody come back to Earth and pick me up? Because I am totally confused," said Kim.

"It is quite simple, my dear," Zordon said. "This planet is under attack, and I have brought you here to save it."

"Oh, yeah, right," Zack said.

"Ah! A nonbeliever," Zordon said, almost rambunctiously. "Look behind you at the viewing globe. Your doubts will be answered in the images you see."

Turning to a bright white sphere on a pedestal behind them, Nuala watched as the images of a strange looking woman appeared before her eyes. "This is Rita Repulsa, an intergalactic sorceress who is bent on controlling the universe," Zordon explained. "With her henchmen and putty patrollers, she plans to conquer Earth."

"What does all of this have to do with us?" Trini asked.

"You've been chosen to form an elite team to battle Rita," Zordon continued. "Each of you will be given access to extraordinary powers drawn from the ancient creatures you call dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs?" Nuala repeated in disbelief. She looked down as a bright flash exploded from her belt, and found a silver rectangle box hooked onto her belt. "What's this?" she asked.

"The keys to your powers," Zordon explained. "They are your power morphers. When in danger, raise them to the sky calling the name of your dinosaur, and you will morph into a formidable fighting force known as Power Rangers."

"Morph?" Kim asked, confused.

"Metamorphosis," Billy explained.

"That means to change," Nuala said as Kim continued to look confused.

"As Power Rangers, you will have access to a universe of power, and will command fighting machines called 'Zords'."

"I don't get it," said Trini.

"Jason, bold and powerful. You shall command the Tyrannosaurus dinosaur," Zordon carried on further. "Zachary, you are clever and brave. You shall command the Mastodon dinosaur. Kimberly, graceful and smart the Pterodactyl dinosaur shall be yours. Billy, patient and wise, you shall command the powerful Triceratops dinosaur. Trini, fearless and agile the saber-toothed tiger dinosaur will be under your command. Nuala, kind-hearted and compassionate you will command the powers of the Dire wolf dinosaur, now, observe the viewing globe."

The new team-mates turned to the globe once more.

"Just as the five of you work together so do your Zords," Zordon said. "When you need help, you need only to turn to the power of the dinosaurs which will come together to form the mighty Megazord."

"Power morphers? Megazords?" Zack asked, chuckling. "Uh-huh, this is just too weird for me. I'll tell you what - it's been real but I got to go."

"Yeah, see you," Kim agreed, following her friend out.

"Me too," Nuala said. "I haven't even been here a day, and already this is way too much."

Zack and Kim turned to the new girl as she followed them, only to spot their old friends remaining behind. "You all coming?" Zack called. "Jason?"

"What?" Jason asked, still staring at Zordon.

"Let's go man," Zack said, leading the way out of the command centre.

"Very well, then," Zordon said as the teens retreated. "Let the power protect you.

Once outside, Nuala turned in a complete 360 circle before realizing that there was no familiar landmarks for miles. She sighed and turned to Kim, shrugging as the look on brunette's face matched the same emotion bubbling inside her.

"Great! He could have sent us back into town," Kim said.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

As they walked through the rocky terrain away from the command centre, Jason couldn't help but mull over everything Zordon had said. He had wanted to stay and help, but had to remain true to his friends and leave with them - maybe he even believed to change their minds.

"Guys, we shouldn't have left," Jason said, sliding down a rock after the others. "I mean, he chose us to save the world. I say we do it."

"Do you really think we can?" Trini asked. She, just like Jason had wanted to stay behind and fight, but her loyalty to Kim and Zack was much stronger than some strange floating head.

"Hey, guys, I mean, you don't even know what you're talking about," Zack said. "We were talking to a giant floating head."

"I'm with Zack on this one," Nuala said. "How do you even know if you can trust him? I mean, we're just a bunch of kids and he zapped us from town and dumped us in the middle of nowhere. I don't know about you guys, but I get the strange feeling of Deja -" she broke off as a scream replaced her words and the ground behind her exploded.

"Everybody down!" Jason yelled, ducking for cover.

"What was that?" Trini asked, as she and Kim stumbled back to their feet.

Nuala looked up as a humanoid being in grey rags flipped into view, and enclosed them all into a tight circle. "What are these things?" she asked, backing away from the weird patrol, she jumped as she bumped into something and spun around to see that it was Billy.

"Look out!" Zack shouted, pointing at one of the freaks behind Kim.

"Zack!" Jason called, nodding at his friend.

"Right," Zack said. "These two are mine." He danced his way through the goons, and kicked left, right and centre, flooring them with ease. On the other side of the rocks, Jason was taking out his own goons with his Karate techniques, while Trini held her own against the goon squad too. Leaving, Nuala, Kim and Billy, the most unqualified fighters to handle their own.

"Wait!" Billy said, holding his hands up in hopes of stopping the goons.

Nuala screamed as she and Billy scrambled backwards, away from the goons that continued to advance. "I don't they listen to reason, Billy," she said, ducking under a goon's arm as it swung around and targeted her head. It cracked it's fist on the rock formation behind her, taking a large chunk out of the stone.

Exchanging wide-eyed and fearful looks with Billy, Nuala grunted as Kim crashed into her after the brunette had been tossed aside by the goon patrol.

"Sorry," Kim apologized.

Nuala shook her head and instinctively wrapped her arms around Kim. "It's OK," she said, drawing the brunette in closer, as Zack crashed into Billy after recieving the same treatment as Kim. The four crowded together under the rock formation as Trini joined them, closely followed by Jason.

"This day is too weird," Kim said, speaking the thoughts on everyone's mind.

"What do we do now?" Trini asked.

Jason looked down at the power coin on his belt. "Zordon said these power morphers would give us more power," he said. "Let's do it."

The others nodded and scrambled into a formation either side of Jason.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"POWER RANGERS!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After teleporting for a second time that day, Nuala and the others found themselves in downtown Angel Grove facing off against a giant golden monkey with wings.

"Look at him," Jason said, craning his neck to get a better look. "That dude is huge!"

The monkey laughed and tried to stand on the rangers, all of which backed up to avoid being squashed.

"Back off, Fang Face!" Jason said, striking his mighty pose.

"The good guys are here," Zack agreed, mimicking his friend.

"Get off our planet!" Billy said.

"Because we're the Power Rangers," said Trini.

"And we're not backing down," Kim said.

"Or backing out!" Nuala finished.

"We need Dinosaur power!" Jason said, reaching for the skies. A tremendous roar ripped through the air as a mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex thundered towards them.

"Whoa, check them out!" Zack breathed in amazement as the Mammoth zord appeared.

"Let's go!" Trini said, running forward with Nuala and Kim. The three girls' kicked off from the ground and landed in the cockpits of their new animal zords.

"Going up!" Zack said, as he and Billy followed behind the three girls. Jason had already claimed his zord, and was waiting for his team to follow him.

"Everyone ready?" Jason asked.

"Yeah!" was the combined replied.

"Alright! Megazord on!" Jason said, initiating the sequence. "Let's get him, guys!" he added once the zords had combined and the others, save for Nuala, joined him in the one large cockpit.

"Right!"

"You and your weapons are no match for me," the giant golden monkey snarled as he fired at the new team.

"Come on, guys, let's see what this baby can do!"

"Fire!"

The giant monkey howled as he landed with a heavy, earth-quaking thud on the floor after the team had fired their laser blasters at him.

"Let's send this guy back where he came from," Jason said, clenching his hand into a fist. "Nuala, you ready?"

"Just say the word, Jason," Nuala replied.

"Alright. Activating Megazord battle mode!" Jason said, pulling back on his controls.

Nuala watched as the Megazord lifted itself up onto its legs, and then turned in her direction.

"Now, Nuala," Jason called.

"Dire Wolf armour, activate!" Nuala said, pushing forward on her controls, and punching a button on her console. Her wolf rose into the air, it's legs tucking up into his body, and then it broke apart, creating a shield and wolf spear. "Nice," said Nuala as she popped up inside the cockpit with the others.

For a while the Megazord and the giant monkey fought back and forth, each trading deadly blows but walking away unharmed.

"Look out!" Jason yelled as the giant monkey jumped into the air and smashed both his feet into their chest. The Rangers cried out in surprise as they were thrown to the floor.

"He's coming back!" Billy said.

Rising the wolf spear, Nuala blocked the giant monkey's sword and hit in the chest with her shield. The monkey growled and hit the side of a mountain for a second time.

"What was that?" Zack asked, craning his neck to look at Nuala.

"Instinct?" the silver Ranger asked, shrugging lightly. "Honestly, I just really want to go home right now."

The giant monkey growled and made it back to his feet, he raised his sword to strike, but was blocked by the arm of the Megazord. "You fools will pay!" he swore.

"Power Sword!" Jason commanded, summoning the Megazords' sword to hand.

"This isn't over," the giant monkey said. "I'll be back!" He covered his left arm over his chest and disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

While the others chatted excitedly about their job well done, Nuala stood off to the side feeling partly left out, and partly unsure about her decision to go forth and continue the fight as the silver Ranger. It was cool and fun what she had done a mere few hours ago, but she'd only been in Angel Grove a few hours, and she had more than enough responsibilities to deal with, without the fate of the world being one of them. She just hoped the others were understanding about her hesitation.

"Congratulations on a job well done," Zordon said, silencing the excited teens and drawing their attention to him. "Now that you have become Power Rangers you must follow three basic rules or lose the protection of the power: First... never use your power for personal gain; second... never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you, and finally, keep your identity a secret. No one may know you are a Power Ranger."

"Oh, wait a second," Zack said, stepping forward.

"Yes, Zachary, what is it?" Zordon asked.

"I'm not sure we're all up to this," Zack said. "I mean, we were pretty lucky this time."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Zordon said. "The six of you make a fine group of superheroes. You have all been through an extraordinary experience together, you need each other now and the world needs you."

"Yeah, alright," said Jason, excitedly. "I'm in."

"Me too," Zack said.

"You can count on me," Trini added with a grin.

"Affirmative," Billy nodded.

"I don't know," Kim said, unsure. "I mean, the outfits are cool and everything but my hair gets tangled inside the helmet. I don't think I can do it."

"Oh, no," Trini protested. "Kimberly."

"Not!" Kimberly laughed. "Got you!"

The others laughed in relief and turned to the final member of their team. Nuala bit her lip, and lowered her gaze to the Gaelic tattoo on the inside of her right wrist; it was the Gaelic symbol for family and they were partly the reason why she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue on as a Power Ranger.

"Nuala, what is troubling you?" Zordon asked.

Nuala lifted her gaze and saw that everyone was looking directly at her; she sighed and nodded, looking up at Zordon. "I just... I just don't think I'm cut out for this," she admitted.

"What?" Kim asked, surprised.

"What do you mean, Nuala?" Trini asked, walking towards her new friend and touching her shoulder gently.

"Look, today was amazing, never once did I imagine something like this to ever happen to me," Nuala said. "But I have enough responsibilities, more than any seventeen-year-old should have to deal with. I have a baby at home, he's only a year old and I can't just drop him for the sake of one planet."

"I understand your dilemma, Nuala," Zordon said. "But do not make a hasty decision. Consider your position carefully, and report back to me as soon as possible; but I must ask you to not take too long, the fate of the world hangs in the balance and the team cannot afford to be down a Ranger."

Nuala nodded, hesitantly glanced at the others, and then looked down at her wrist her bracelet again. "Can you send me home, Alpha?" she asked her tone soft and slightly torn.

"Of course," Alpha said, initiating the teleportation sequence.

A silver tube surrounded Nuala and she disappeared, reappearing in the back garden of her new home. She sighed and looked up at the skies. She hated being left with hard decisions, but she had made a promise when she had found out she was pregnant, a promise to herself and her unborn baby to always be there despite the circumstances.

"I'm sorry guys," Nuala said. "But my son comes first, in any situation."

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**So here is the first chapter of my newest Power Ranger story – be brutal, but not judgmental – thanks.**_

_**I'll try and get the next chapter out on Friday.**_

_**Happy reading.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 1:27am**


	2. A Dire Situation

**Author's Note:** As promised, guys, here's another update. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourite this story. I am glad you liked it :)

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Grapejuice101, Georgina221b, Nova Lioness, CamaroDude1989, Almighty Tallest Angie, Summer490, Pixiescale1185, Thunderyoshi, Kittyitty6, Jessfairy88, Timjudd341, Pinkrangerfan, Redder45, Starpower21** and** Kaylee Adkins loves 1D** for adding this story to their favourite. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

The next morning Nuala awoke with a start. The fact that she had come home upset the previous evening was enough to put her mother on edge, and constantly ask questions about what had happened, and who had upset her. Not wanting to talk about the whole ordeal - and having been forbidden from mentioning the idea of her being a Power Ranger - made everything even more strained.

"Nuala, I'm taking your brother to check out Angel Grove High, are you coming?" Lana shouted through the closed door of her daughter's bedroom.

"No," Nuala called back. "I'm heading into town."

"What about Ellis?"

"I'm taking him with me."

"OK. But be careful. I heard on the news last night that there was a monster attack yesterday," Lana said. "I don't want you and Ellis caught in the city if there is another one today. OK?"

"Yeah, Mum, I promise I'll be careful," Nuala said. "I'm only going to meet Billy and his friends."

Lana nodded. She was relatively pleased that her daughter was starting to reach out and make friends, ever since she had found out she was pregnant Nuala had had problems maintaining a friendship for longer than a week, whenever the new friend found out that she had a kid, they run for the hills - usually a day later rumours then started.

Hearing the front door close, Nuala looked down at her son in his cot and smiled as he gurgled at her. "Do you wanna go meet the guys?" she asked. "Huh? You've already met Billy, and he seemed to like you. I think Kim and Trini would drool over you mind." She reached into the cot and tickled the baby's belly, causing him to laugh happily.

Standing up, Nuala moved around the room and started to get dressed. The moving van, with the last of her stuff was supposed to be arriving today at midday - hopefully her mother would've been back by then, and then there was the animal shelter that were dropping off the family dogs later that afternoon.

Hopefully by that evening the Archer family would feel more at home than they did now.

"You know, I can't wait to get our wardrobes up," Nuala said, pulling her shirt over her head. She slipped on a pair of sandals, and then walked back to the cot. "Now then, what are you going to wear, huh?" she picked up the babbling baby and balanced him on her hip. "How about this one?" she asked, pointing at the tigger onesie.

Ellis cooed at it, and Nuala smiled.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said, kneeling down on the mattress she had been using as a bed. She carefully set the baby down, making funny faces and noises as she undressed him; Ellis flailed his arms and legs happily at his mother's antics.

Once both mother and son were fully dressed, Nuala strapped him into his pushchair and wheeled him out of the house.

Just like yesterday the weather was hot and humid, reaching into the hood of the pushchair, Nuala pulled out her son's sun hat, and put it on his head to protect him from the heat. She then turned and locked the door, before easing the pushchair down the steps and out of the gate.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"See, I, uh, I finally completed a narrow-beam transmission module that will allow wave function over an extended interval," Billy said as he and his friends walked out of the gym, he paused and turned back to the others when they failed to respond to his explanation. "Well? Aren't you all excited?"

"Well, I will be as soon as I figure out what you just said," Zack said, following Billy to his locker.

"He's created a communication device using microwaves," said Nuala as she appeared from around the corner, she was pushing an empty pushchair and carrying Ellis on her hip. The fair-haired baby was sucking on a bottle and resting his head on his mother's shoulder.

The team jumped in surprise, and Billy looked impressed by the fact that she had understood him.

"Nuala, you made it," Jason said.

"Yeah. I have a pretty good memory when it comes to figuring out my way around a new place," Nuala said.

"Who's this?" Kim asked, pointing at Ellis.

"This is my son," Nuala answered.

"This is the kid you mentioned yesterday?" Zack asked. He had been stunned to learn that Nuala had a kid, especially since he and Jason had been the last to know.

Nuala nodded. "Yeah, this is the reason that I'm hesitant to accept Zordon's offer," she said. "I made a promise when I found out that I was going to be a mother, a promise to always be there for my baby, especially since he doesn't have a Dad."

"Where is the father?" Trini asked.

"As far as I know he's in jail," Nuala answered. "I dunno if he's been released since I moved, but his sentence was a long one so I doubt it."

"What did he do to get sent away?" Kim asked.

Nuala shook her head. She still wasn't prepared to reveal her secret yet. "I'll tell you one day," she said. "Just not today."

"OK - he's cute, by the way," Kim said, cooing at Ellis. "Can I hold him?"

"You can try," Nuala said. "He's a bit of a Mummy's boy, and he's really tired so he might cry for a bit."

"What do I do if he cries?" Kim asked, nervously.

"Just rock him," Nuala said. "He'll settle down and drop off to sleep."

Kim nodded and cradled Ellis close to her. The little boy looked up at the woman that was not his mother, but didn't make a sound as he sucked on his bottle.

"Have you thought anymore about Alpha's offer?" Jason asked.

"I fell asleep thinking about it last night," Nuala said. "I know it's a big decision, and I understand the consequences of my actions if I say no, but I don't think I can deal with the responsibilities of being a student, a mother and a Power Ranger all at the same time. I think if I was able to tell my Mum about the whole Ranger thing it'd be different, but Zordon already said no one must know."

"I'm sure if you explained the situation to him," Trini said, "he'd understand. Why don't you come back to the command centre with us later, you can ask him then? Bring Ellis with you so he can see for himself the responsibilities that you have."

Nuala hesitated, and then nodded. "OK," she said, liking the idea. Unfortunately she knew that if Zordon said no then she's had have to give up her morpher and relinquish the title of the Dire Wolf Ranger. "So, Billy, you were saying something about communicators?" she added to the new blue Ranger.

"Oh, yes," Billy said, opening his locker and taking out seven wrist watches. "See? We now have connection to Zordon and Alpha in the command centre." He handed out the communicators.

"This is morphenomenal," Kim said, as Nuala strapped her communicator to her wrist, and then took the sleeping baby from the new pink Ranger.

"They respond to tactile pressure followed by auditory stimulus," Billy explained.

"So what you're saying is that we just touch and talk?" Trini asked. "Like this..." she pressed the band either side of the communicator and instantly she, Zack, Kim and Jason disappeared.

Nuala jumped and looked to Billy expectantly. "What just happened?" she asked, surprised.

"The neutrino power grid must have crossed molecular -" Billy broke off as he too disappeared.

"Great," Nuala complained, looking down at her son. "Well, I guess now is a good time as any to see Zordon, hey?" she said, smiling as Ellis slept soundly. She knelt down in front of his pushchair and tucked him in, setting him to lie down and then before covering him with his favourite blanket. "Hold on, Tiger toes, this may get a little -" she broke off as a silver tube covered her and the pushchair, and hurled them into the command centre, thankfully away from the dog pile that the others had landed in.

"It would appear my communicators malfunctioned," Billy said looking around to see Nuala standing on the other side of the command centre.

"How come she ends up over there?" Zack asked, pointing at Nuala.

"I dunno," Nuala shrugged, pushing her son over to the others.

"Oh, welcome homeboys, home girls," Alpha said, looking around at them all. "What brings you to the hood?"

"Too much TV," Zack said, shaking his head at the robot.

The team laughed as Nuala looked down at her communicator, and then up at Billy. "For the record," she told him, "I think these are a great idea."

"Thanks, Nuala," Billy said, returning her smile. "They may need a little tweaking, but it's nice to know they're appreciated."

"I commend your latest invention, Billy," Zordon said, his voice booming throughout the command centre and startling Ellis awake. The baby screamed and Nuala scrambled to quieten him down. She unbuckled him from his pushchair and cradled him close to her body, rocking and shushing him as she did.

The others cringed and covered their ears at the noise.

"Man, kids are loud!" Zack complained rubbing his ear as Ellis stopped crying.

"You should be thankful, Zack," Nuala said. "You don't realize how difficult motherhood is. But, anyway, carry on Zordon."

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Nuala, have you given thought to our last conversation?" Zordon asked.

"I'm still thinking, Zordon," Nuala said. "It's a hard decision. I won't take long, I promise."

Zordon nodded and carried on addressing Billy about his invention, all the while Nuala tuned them out and looked down at her son, he was staring up at her with wide-watery blue eyes, the sight made her heart ache and she leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead.

She wanted to take Zordon up on his offer to be a Ranger, but the idea of leaving her baby alone for hours on end when she was off saving the world wasn't something she wished to think about. She was a mother now; she couldn't abandon her baby to go swanning off at the last moment to fight some alien freakazoid

"Look out!" Billy said, breaking through Nuala's thoughts. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her out of the way of Alpha's rapidly increased speed. The robot crashed into every console in the command centre, and nearly overturned Ellis' pushchair, but thankfully Trini moved it aside as she dived out of the way.

Nuala looked over her shoulder at Billy and smiled. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Billy said, letting go of her quickly. "Is he OK?" he asked, looking down at Ellis.

"Yeah, he's just a little freaked out."

"Understandable," Billy said. "It's a lot to take in."

"Yeah. I can relate."

"I think we all can."

"True," Nuala smiled.

Jason smirked and exchanged a look with Zack, Trini and Kim as they watched the interaction from the other side of the command centre; it was obvious that Billy already cared about Nuala, maybe even to the point of crushing.

"Maybe I should take him home," Nuala said, looking down at her droopy-eyed baby. "He can sleep more peacefully there, and I'm also not in anyone's way then."

"I thought you wanted to talk to Zordon," Kim said, coming into the conversation.

"I can speak to him later," Nuala said, "besides, I have a feeling you guys are going to have your hands full." No sooner had the words left her mouth, did a high-pitched shrieking echoed around the base, once again Ellis screamed, his tones matching the command centre alarms perfectly.

The team, save for Nuala covered their ears again.

"Shh! Shh!" Nuala said, nursing Ellis as he continued to cry. She stroked his cheek, and tilted his bottle up so that he was drinking from it, she knew that he wasn't hungry, just tired and scared, but unless Billy or Alpha teleported her home she was stuck in the command centre.

"What's going on?" Jason asked, looking around.

"It's Rita. She's sent a device to open a time trap," Zordon explained, "and the putty patrol is gathering outside of town. Find out what they are up to while I analyze the time device."

"Nuala, you coming?" Trini asked.

Nuala shook her head and looked down at her son. "I'm sorry guys, but no" she said. "Good luck."

Trini and Kim sighed, but nodded nonetheless. They could somewhat understand Nuala's hesitance.

"We're out of here!" Jason said as Alpha teleported him, and the others from the base.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

_"My Power Morpher,"_ said Billy as Nuala watched him via the viewing globe at the command centre. She bit her lip at the disadvantage he was in due to the putty patrols, and with the others so far away and unable to help him surely was a goner.

"He needs help!" Nuala said looking up at Zordon. "You have to do something."

"There is only one who can help Billy," Zordon said.

"Who?"

"You."

Nuala shook her head and looked over to where Ellis lay sleeping in the shadows of the command centre. "I can't," she said. "I can't abandon the responsibility I have to my son!"

"You're undecided because you wish to protect him, yes?" Zordon asked. "You believe that he will be unharmed if you are not a ranger? Unfortunately that is not the case, Nuala, Rita does not defer between any human; your son is in danger whether you help us or not."

Nuala hesitated and glanced between Ellis and Billy, she wanted to help them both, but she didn't know how. "Let me tell my mother," she said, turning to Zordon. "Let me tell her my secret. She'll know that I'm not shirking my responsibly as a mother, and she can help me take care of my son and save the world at the same time."

"It is against the rules..."

"Make an exception," Nuala said. "Just this once. I promise; I won't ask for anything else after this, just let me tell her, please?"

Zordon hesitated, and then nodded. "Fine," he caved. "You may reveal your secret to your mother and brother, but no one else. There is one thing more you must do, at some point you must bring your family here so that they may take the oath to swear not to reveal your secret."

"They'll be here," Nuala said. "I'll bring them myself."

"Good. Now go, help your friends," Zordon said.

Nuala looked, again across at her son. "He'll be safe here until I come back?" she asked.

"Yes, you have my word," Zordon said.

Nuala nodded and looked to Alpha. "A little help here?" she asked.

"Of course," Alpha said teleporting the silver ranger to the scene.

Billy jumped in surprise as Nuala appeared in front of him, and he almost tumbled backwards off of the cliffs face.

"Gotcha!" Nuala said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to safety.

"What are you doing here?" Billy asked.

"What do you think?" Nuala asked, turning to the putty. "Come on," she egged it on. Gurgling the putty charged forward, but missed as Billy pulled Nuala aside and the putty run straight off the cliff. "Ha! Not so smart now, are they?" she said, looking over the side.

Billy smiled and glanced sideways at her. "What made you change your mind?" he asked.

"You were in trouble and needed help," Nuala said. "That and the same reason I wanted to quit is also the reason that I have to stay. I can't protect my baby if I'm not a Power Ranger."

"Fair point," Billy said. "Now, what about them?" he pointed down to where Trini, Kim, Zack and Jason were struggling against the Putties.

"They need help," Nuala said. "Come on. Let's go bail them out."

Billy nodded and taking Nuala's hand, led her back down the trail to safety. Once off the mountain, the two rangers run back to their friends and were able to fight off the Putties, allowing Jason, Kim and Zack to form a human chain and send the putties running for the hills.

"Hey, you made it!" Trini said, spotting Nuala.

"Well, I wasn't about to let you guys have all the fun," Nuala said. "Besides, Zordon helped me realize that this is just as important as protecting my baby; plus he'd be in danger either way."

"Did you ask about letting your mother know?" Zack asked.

Nuala nodded. "They have to take some oath tomorrow," she said. "Something to swear that they won't reveal my secret, but if it makes things easier for me, I don't care."

"It's good to have to you back, Nuala," Jason said.

"It's good to be back," Nuala said, smiling.

"_Congratulations, Power Rangers, you've done a superb job dealing with the putties. And special congratulations to you, Nuala, for accepting your place on the team. You are once again at full strength, and not a moment too soon, our scanners have picked up a new threat. Rita has sent a creature named Bones down to the amusement park, he can fire energy bolts from his eyes, and jump long distances, and even make himself disappear. He probably controls the time device as well, so get moving, Power Rangers._"

"We're on it, Zordon," Jason said. "It's morphin' time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"POWER RANGERS!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The second of Rita's monsters growled at the rainbow of colours that had landed opposite him in the amusement park. "Here," he said. "Let me help you get ahead." He threw his top hat into the air and then disappeared.

"What in the world?" Kim asked, running forward and looking up.

"Into the time warp, all of you!" the monster said as a spiral of blue and white energy wrapped itself around the rangers, sucking them into the hat.

"This is weird," Zack said, looking around at the new dimension they had landed.

Nuala shook her head and sat up, smoke rose up off of the floor and consumed anything beneath it. "What is this place?" she asked, picking herself up and turning to the others.

"Look out!" Jason shouted pushing her aside as the monster from before jumped over them. "Blade Blasters up!" he commanded, grabbing his weapon from his waist, the others followed and rushed forward, meeting a small handful of putties that had appeared seemingly from nowhere.

"Heads up, Jason!" Nuala shouted, jumping over the red Ranger and striking the monster, Bones with her sword. He recoiled but quickly returned and slashed across her chest with his own sword. Nuala cried out and stumbled backwards into her leader, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you OK?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," Nuala answered, panting. "I'm good."

"Jason!" Kim shouted. Looking around both Jason and Nuala saw that she was pointing at a long lighted fuse.

Tracing the fuse up to a wall, Nuala saw that it was connected to a bomb. "Oh no!" she whispered. "If that thing blows, we're stuck here!"

"Hey, stop!" Jason shouted, rushing forward to try and put out the fuse. The putties surrounded him and shoved him back. Meanwhile Bones struck the ground with his staff causing a crevice to appear, splitting the rangers up.

"Nuala!" Trini shouted from one side of the crevice. She and the others had been separated from the silver ranger. "Nuala, jump!"

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to jump!" Nuala shouted, eyeing the crevice with a fearful glance.

"Come on, Nuala, you have to jump!" Zack called, glancing over his shoulder to see how Jason and Kim were faring against the monster. "You don't have much time!"

"What if I fall?" Nuala asked.

"You won't," Zack promised. "We won't let you."

Nuala hesitated and struggled to her feet. She edged closer to the gaping hole and looked down, fire burned brightly beneath her and she could feel her heart hammering painfully inside her chest.

"Come on, Nuala, take my hand," Billy said, reaching out a hand.

Nuala looked up at him, and then back down. If she didn't get out of here then she'd never see her family or baby again. Taking a deep breath, and closing her eyes, the new silver ranger jumped off the edge and landed on the other, she tilted backwards and nearly fell.

"Gotcha!" Trini and Billy said, latching onto her arms and pulling her backwards into safety.

Nuala sighed and smiled gratefully through her helmet. "Thanks, you guys," she said.

"We told you we wouldn't let you fall," Zack said, patting her shoulder.

"Guys!" Jason shouted, as he and Kim were tossed aside by Bones. "We have to blast him."

The others nodded and transformed their swords into blasters; they took aim at Bones and fired, shattering him into tiny fragments. The team cheered in victory, but it was short lived as Bones reassembled himself.

"What?!" Zack exclaimed.

"No way!" Trini cried in anguish.

"Now what do we do?" Kim asked.

"His head," Billy said, pointing at Bones. "If we destroy that, we destroy him."

Nuala glanced at the blue Ranger, and then took off at a run towards Bones. She jumped into the air once she was close enough and kicked his head from his shoulders. "Zack, catch!" she shouted, kicking the skull at the black Ranger.

"Urgh! I don't want it!" Zack said, tossing it at Trini.

The yellow Ranger rolled her eyes and covered the skull with the hood of the monsters cape, and hurried over to the crevice with it. "So long, Bonehead," she said, throwing him inside. The head exploded, and the body soon followed.

In the midst of the explosion, an opening in the dimension's wall opened and the rangers were thrown out as the bomb exploded behind them.

"Ouch!" Nuala cried as she landed hard on the ground of a rock quarry.

"Look out!" Trini and Kim shouted as they each landed on top of the silver Ranger. The three girls' groaned and rolled off of one another.

"Man, that was too weird," Jason said, as he, Billy and Zack rushed over to help the three girls' to their feet.

"And it's not over," Zack said, pointing ahead of him. The ground shook and a giant knight monster trampled towards the rangers.

Jason cracked his knuckles and nodded at his friends. "Let's make this quick," he said. "Zordon, we need Dinozord power, now!"

Nuala smiled as a shrill cry cut through the air, and Kim's Dinozord swooped in low, following behind it came the others. "Now that's what I call power," she commented as her sleek silver Dire Wolf Zord overtook the other rangers, and rammed its head into the knight, knocking it off balance.

"Talk about a hard head," Zack chuckled.

"This one's all yours, Nuala," Jason said, passing the chain of command to the young mother.

Nuala hesitated and glanced at the red Ranger. "Yeah?" she asked. Jason nodded and Nuala grinned. "Time to put this guy on ice!" she said, jumping up into the Dire Wolf Dinozord. She flipped a few switches on her console, and felt the floor of her Zord vibrate as the dire wolf lowered itself into a crouch; it crawled forward a few steps and then pounced out at its target, firing a stream of frozen energy lasers at the knight.

The knight cried out in agony as he was covered in a thick layer of ice.

"Nighty-night," Nuala taunted, ramming the head of her Zord once again in to the monster and knocking him over. He hit the ground and shattered just as Bones had done in the time warp dimension. Nuala laughed and jumped up onto the head of Zord, as her friends whooped and cheered from the ground below.

"Yeah!"

"Way to go, Nuala!" Jason praised.

Nuala offered them double thumbs up, and then looked up at the sky.

Rita had surely met her match now because neither Nuala, nor the Power Rangers were going anywhere.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Nuala! Mum, I found her! She's in here!"

Nuala groaned and looked over towards the door of the Juice bar to find her younger brother bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Nuala, did you hear?" Ciaran said, rushing over and sliding to a stop before he crashed into his stationary sister. "Mum's freaking out, but I think it's totally awesome!"

"Whoa, slow down, Ci," Nuala said, scooping a bit of cream from her smoothie and feeding it to Ellis. The baby gurgled in delight and sucked on the end of his mother's finger, eager to taste more. "What's got you so excited, and what's Mum freaking out over?"

"There was another monster attack today!" Ciaran said.

Nuala rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "Only you would find that exciting," she said. "I can see why Mum is freaking out."

"Oh, come on!" Ciaran whined. "Don't act like you don't care! I know you find it interesting."

"OK, hot shot," Nuala said. "Spill. What do you know?"

Ciaran grinned and wrapped his arms around his sister's neck, hugging her tightly. He loved it when she allowed him to just ramble on about something he was really into. "Well, Mum and I were on our way home - the High school looks amazing, by the way, you're going to love it there -"

Nuala chuckled and looked back at her new friends. "My brother, Ciaran," she said to Kim, Trini, Zack and Jason. "He likes to ramble. It's easier and faster to just let him get it over with," she explained.

"Nuala, listen, it said on the radio that six superheroes saved the park from a zombie guy, and guess what they're calling themselves?" Ciaran asked, but answered before his sister had a chance. "The Power Rangers! How awesome is that?"

"Very awesome, Ci," Nuala said. "Now can you come down a few notches? There's something I have to tell you..."

"Maybe _showing_ him would be a better alternative," Jason suggested. "Especially if he's going to freak out like this."

Nuala looked considerate, and then nodded. "Good idea," she said, "and knowing Ciaran he will really... freak."

"Freak? Over what?" Ciaran asked.

"You'll see," Nuala said, easing her seat back and standing up. She looked down at her brother, and nodded to the bar where their mother was sitting. "Go and get Mum, and meet me outside."

"We're not going home, are we?" Ciaran asked.

"Not exactly," Nuala said, sharing a smile with her friends. "This should be interesting."

"You want us to come?" Trini asked.

"It's up to you," said Nuala. "Just be warned, he is really going to hit the roof."

"In that case, I think I'll stay here," said Zack, but Jason caught him by the shoulder and pulled him outside. Nuala chuckled as Kim and Trini followed them leaving Billy with Nuala.

"You sure you want to do this?" Billy asked. "It's not too late to back out, you know."

Nuala smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know," she said. "But if I want to be a Power Ranger then this is something that needs to be done. My brother will be understanding, and a little excited, but I just hope my Mum is too."

"When you explain everything to her," said Billy, "I'm sure she will. Come on, before you get cold feet again."

Nuala chuckled and walked over to where her mother and brother were sitting; she then led them outside to Trini, Jason, Zack and Kim, and teleported to the command centre.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**I've just realised that MMPR isn't extremely known for its spacing of scenes, or endings and, as most of you know, I'm a sucker for cliffhangers. Anyway, I just finished chapter three and should be posting it sometime after the weekend. I want to get ahead in writing a few chapters before I work out a more permanent rotor. It should give me a chance to update my other fics along the way then.**_

_**On a more technical note, I will reply to everyone's first review (as I really cherish them all), but after that I'll probably only respond if you have a question. I'm happy to answer questions, but only if they don't require spoilers, I won't give anything to do with the plot away.**_

_**Sorry, in the future these end notes will be very few. I just want to keep everyone informed :). Anyway, pleas review and let me know what you think so far! Your feedback is truly the fuel that keeps my fingers typing (That sounds weird, but it's the truth).**_

_**I'll try and get the next chapter up by the end of the day Sunday.**_

_**Happy reading.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Friday 23rd May, 2014 at 03:33pm**


	3. Human Pollution

**Author's Note: **OK, guys, I know I promised an update on Sunday and not Saturday, but I reached the halfway mark of my goal. I've just finished writing chapter five, and will be starting chapter six as soon I as write up a new update for the Lightning Sister's Behind the Scenes story.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Taeniaea **and **ThunderNinja4Ever **for adding this story to their favourite. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

The days following the move-in passed at an alarming speed.

The fact that Nuala didn't have a car made it difficult for her to do much, so she'd been spending most of her time walking from place-to-place, not that she really minded. Back home she used to walk every day, to get from her farm house to the bus stop for school, and then back again at the end of the day, but also to walk the dogs - Chaos and Ceaser.

At the end of the move-in week, Nuala and Ciaran were enrolled at Angel Grove High. Having been held back a year, Nuala was going into her junior year while Ciaran was starting as a freshman. Both were enjoying their new school, and already had a small group of friends that they enjoyed hanging out with.

"Here you go," Lana said, pulling up outside the High School. "Have fun."

"Thanks, Mum," Ciaran said, climbing out of the car. "I'll see you later."

"Hey, Ci, wait!" Nuala called after her brother. "No telling your friends about me, OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ciaran said, waving her off. He had been excited to learn that his sister and her new friends were the almighty Power Rangers, but he was also a little bummed out that he couldn't tell anyone, thankfully enough he understood how important the secret was to keep, and had sworn to keep it just that - a secret.

Lana smiled as she watched her son join his new group of friends outside the school doors, and then turned to Nuala. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. "It's OK if you don't."

"What? Be a Power Ranger or go to school?"

"Both, if you like."

"I'm fine, Mum," Nuala promised. "Thank you for being so understanding, I knew you would be."

"As long as you can promise me you'll come home every night," Lana said, as Nuala got out of the passenger's seat, and climbed into the back. "I'll be happy. That baby already doesn't have a father, he needs his mother."

Nuala smiled and leaned into the car seat. She kissed Ellis on the nose, and pulled back. "Don't worry, Mum, I'm not leaving him," she said. "Isn't that right, my little Tiger Toes?"

Ellis squealed excitedly, and pulled at his mother's hair.

"Ouch!" Nuala said, tapping his hand. "Naughty baby! No pulling!" She then kissed his forehead and withdrew. "I need to go; I'm meeting Billy and the others. I'll see you later, Mum, have fun with your grandson until I come home. I'll take him out after school."

Lana nodded and turned back to the road. She turned on the engine and waited for Nuala to have gotten out of the car again, thrown her bag over her shoulder and closed the door before waving and pulling off.

Nuala waved and waited until the car had disappeared around the corner, she then sighed and looked up at the High School. It was now or never.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Hey, Nuala."

Nuala turned and smiled as Billy appeared beside her. "Hey, Billy," she greeted, putting the last of her belongings into her locker.

"Wow, you move fast," Zack said, popping up on her other side and leaning against her locker door. He observed the pictures and stencils she had already put up, and pointed at one in particular. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's a Gaelic symbol," Nuala replied. "It means family. I have it tattooed on my wrist."

"You have a tattoo?" Jason asked. Nuala nodded and showed him her right wrist. "Cool."

"I have one on my left ankle, too," Nuala said.

"Is it a Gaelic symbol too?" Zack asked.

"No," Nuala chuckled. "It's a butterfly. It's a symbol of change. I got it when I found out I was going to be a mother."

"Sweet!" Jason said.

"Nice. So, all your tattoo's have meaning?" Zack asked.

"Yep. I don't really see the point in getting one unless it's going to mean something to you," Nuala shrugged, "and I'm not one of these people who gets them in a weird language. At least I know what my tattoo's mean."

"True," Jason said with a nod. "That's the important thing."

Nuala smiled at their understanding, and slammed her locker door shut. "What's happening down there?" she asked, nodding to the end of the hall. "I thought I heard Kim's voice, but I can't be sure."

"Well, let's go find out," Jason said, leading them forward.

Billy touched the bottom of Nuala's back as they followed Jason and Zack towards the crowd, it was starting to thin out a bit now and Nuala could see that Kim was in fact at the front, and she wasn't alone.

"We can live in a cleaner environment," Trini called to the students who were just walking past.

"Hey, ladies, what's up?" Zack asked as he grew closer.

"Hi, guys."

"Looks like you're attracting a crowd," Jason chuckled.

"Yeah, you conducting a campaign of some kind?" Billy asked.

"We're going to deliver these petitions to the dump site owners today," Trini explained.

Nuala smiled and nodded. "Nice," she commented.

"We're hoping to convince them to clean up the mess," Kim added.

"You guys want to sign?" Trini asked, holding out her clipboard.

"Sure," Nuala said. "It's for a good cause, right?"

Trini smiled as Nuala signed her name, and passed the board onto Zack. "Why don't you come with us, guys?" she asked, suggesting the idea that they all go to the dumpsite as a team.

"Uh, I'd love to," Jason said, trying to think of an excuse. "But I have a karate class that I have to teach later and, I mean, it's a great cause but... I can't bug out on my students."

"OK," Trini shrugged. "How about you, Billy?"

"I must also decline," Billy said. "I'm president of the science fair committee, and today is our first meeting."

"Zack?" Kim asked.

"Uh, I'd love to ladies but, Alpha... he said he had something to talk to me about, right away. I promised to meet him today, sorry."

"I'm sure if you explained that you were helping out a friend, Alpha and Zordon would understand," Nuala said, patting Zack on the shoulder. "I mean, you don't have to meet the directly from school, do you?"

Zack nodded vigorously. "Alpha said it was _super_ important," he said.

"Uh-huh," Nuala said, glancing at Kim and Trini. "I'll come. They never did anything like this at my last school, and like I said, it's for a good cause. Human pollution is the reason this Earth isn't going to last very long, we're our own worst enemy and downfall."

Trini and Kim grinned at one another, and then at Nuala. "Thanks, Nuala," they said, taking the clipboards back from the boys. "As for the rest of you, we totally understand. But it would be a lot more impressive if we acted like a team."

"Sorry, girls," Jason said.

"Anyway, thanks for signing the petitions, you guys."

"Yeah, thanks," Kim nodded.

"Good luck," Billy said. He turned to Nuala and followed her back to her locker. "I thought you wanted to check out the after school clubs today?" he asked, he was a little disappointed that he couldn't get to spend any time with her later.

Nuala smiled and hugged her binder closer to her as she leaned against her locker. "Sorry, Billy," she apologized. "But I like the idea of stopping pollution. I've always had a bit of 'go-green' in me, and the idea is a good one. Maybe we can hang out later? I can always drop by on my way home from the dumpsite."

"OK," Billy said, perking up a bit. "Well, I gotta go, see you later, Nuala."

"Bye, Billy!" Nuala waved. She waited until he was out of sight and then turned back to her locker, pausing only as a beefy arm fell across it, slamming it shut again.

"Hey, babe," said the wannabe bully, Bulk.

"Not interested," Nuala replied.

"Aw, come on, you don't even know what we're gonna say," said the second bully, Skull.

"With you two? The message is clear," Nuala said, "and the answer remains - not interested."

"You'll change your mind," said Bulk. "The ladies always do."

"Yeah? Well, not this one."

"Hey, Nuala, is everything OK over there?" Trini called from her table. "They're not bugging you, are they?"

Nuala shook her head. "Nah, it's OK, girls, nothing I can't handle," she replied, putting away her binders and closing the door again. She stepped aside, and walked towards her two new girl-friends.

"Hey, look, Bulky, the new girl's a dweeb!" Skull said, laughing and pointing at Nuala.

Bulk scoffed and smirked as she grabbed a tin can from his locker, tossing it onto the floor. "Hey, Miss Earth," he called to the three girls. "Recycle that."

"Get a life, Bulk," Kim shot back.

"Hey, why don't you take this," Skull added, smushing another tin can between his hands, and throwing it at the three girls. "To the dump with you?"

Kim, Trini and Nuala ducked to avoid being hit.

"Hey, Nuala," Ciaran said, passing with one of his friends. He noticed the can that Bulk had purposely dropped on the floor, he picked it up and tossed it into the recycling bin beside him.

"Hey!" Bulk growled, as Skull grabbed Ciaran by the shoulders, holding him in place for Bulk to tip the recycling bin over his head.

"Hey, let him go!" Nuala growled throwing the can Skull had tossed at her, back at him. It hit him in the side of the head, and he released her brother without fail.

"Oh, so new girl got attitude, huh?" Skull asked, popping his collar. "I like it."

"Ew," Nuala said, grabbing her brother and pulling him away from the two bullies. "Are you OK?" she asked him. He nodded and run his hand through his hair. He was used to being picked on.

"Come on, Skull, quit your flirting and get her!" Bulk said, starting towards Nuala. She wrapped her arms around her brother tightly and backed away as both bullies cornered them against a classroom door.

Glancing over her shoulder, Nuala saw that the door was slightly ajar. She smirked and looked back at Bulk and Skull. "You want me?" she taunted, "come and get me!"

Determined to get her, Bulk and Skull thundered forward and tripped over Ciaran's outstretched foot as Nuala pulled him aside. The two bullies groaned and crashed into the door, falling face down onto the floor of the empty classroom.

All students that had crowded around to watch the arguing laughed at their misfortune.

"And that's how you take out the trash," Nuala said, hugging her brother as he too chuckled at Bulk and Skull.

"Speaking of which," Trini said. "We should get these petitions over to the dump site. Hey, Ciaran, you wanna come?"

"With you guys?" Ciaran asked, looking eager to be leaving school with his sister and friends. "Sure!"

Nuala laughed and draped her arm around his shoulders. "Then let's go," she said, grabbing her backpack from the table beside Trini and following them towards the exit.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Ciaran clutched the strap of his backpack tightly as he looked around himself. He was standing on the outskirts of a dumpsite. All around him he could see waste in every corner of the place, canisters of oil covered every open ground, and the whole place was covered in a thick layer of dust.

"This is place is gross," Kim said, looking around in disgust.

"What do you suppose that stuff is?" Trini asked, looking at a canister that was leaking fluid.

"I dunno," Nuala said, "I just hope it isn't flammable."

"Wouldn't it say flammable on the side if it was?" Ciaran asked.

"We can't see the label," Trini said. "The rust is covering it."

"Maybe we should find someone to give these petitions too?" Nuala suggested, pointing towards the only building in the area. "Come on, there's bound to be someone here. Ciaran, stick close, OK?"

Ciaran nodded and hurried to catch up with his sister, as Kim and Trini followed behind them.

"It doesn't really look like anybody's here," Kim said, as she passed another canister of oil.

"Then why does it feel like we're being watched?" Trini asked.

"Because we are - look!" Ciaran said pointing to the skies as Putties dropped down all over the area, cornering the three Rangers and Ciaran in a tightly formed circle.

"What do we do?" Kim asked, terrified.

"Split up!" Nuala shouted. "Ciaran, come on!" She grabbed her brother's hand and rushed into the building. She slammed the door behind them, and started towards the ladder leading towards the roof. "Go! Go on, Ci, up there!"

"What about you?" Ciaran asked, as he started to climb.

"My main priority is you!" Nuala shouted as the putties broke down the door and rushed her. "Don't stop climbing until you reach the roof, OK?"

"What do I do when I'm out?"

Nuala didn't answer him as she kicked a puttie in the chest, knocking him away from her and the ladder. Another tried to sneak up behind her, but Nuala spun around and aimed a kick to its head. Right now her brother's safety was her main priority, and since family meant a lot to her, she was determined to make sure he survived this encounter.

Breaking the surface of the main building, Ciaran looked down to see that his sister was outnumbered six to one by the putties, and there were more climbing the ladder to him.

"Nuala!" he shouted.

"I'm coming, Ciaran!" Nuala said, throwing the putties off of her, and dragging another one down from the ladder. She quickly started climbing, and reached the surface just in time to see one of the putties corner her brother near the edge. "Hey!"

The putty turned in surprise and rushed at the silver ranger. Nuala would've loved to tell her brother to run right now, but he couldn't go back down the way they had come because of the putties, and the drop down the side was a long one, without anything to catch him.

With Nuala in trouble at the top of the building. Kim and Trini finished up their own putties and regrouped.

"Are you alright?" Trini asked her friend.

"Yeah, do you think we got them all?" Kim asked.

"Except for the one Nuala is fighting," Trini said, pointing to the rooftop. She and Kim watched as Nuala tossed the last of her putties over the side of the building, and it disappeared before hitting the ground. Nuala and Ciaran then disappeared in a cylinder of silver, and reappeared beside the two girls.

No sooner had they appeared did the girls three morphers go off.

Nuala sighed and turned to her brother. "There's trouble," she said. "I don't want you going home by yourself, so I'm going to ask Alpha to teleport you to the command centre. I'll pick you up from there, OK?"

"OK," Ciaran said, nodding.

"Hey, Alpha, a little help with Ciaran?" Nuala said into her communicator.

"See you soon," Ciaran said as he disappeared.

Nuala nodded and turned to Kim and Trini. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Power Rangers!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The putties gurgled as the pink, yellow and silver Rangers arrived on scene. Goldar snarled at their appearance and sent his minions in to fight first, during the battle he rushed at Nuala and raised his sword to strike her.

"You're mine!" he said.

"Yeah? You got to catch me first!" Nuala said, jumping backwards to avoid getting hit. She rushed over to Trini and Kim and the three of them crumpled the rest of the putties. Clearly not put out by their actions Goldar attacked Kim, striking her with his sword and sending her to the ground.

Finishing up with the last of her putties, Nuala launched herself at Goldar and tried to pull him away from Kim; the gold monkey struggled and threw Nuala from his back, he turned around and punched her in the stomach, before striking her with his sword as she stumbled away.

"Kim, call the others!" Trini shouted, racing past her best friend to help Nuala. "Get help!"

"Right!" Kim nodded, taking off in the opposite direction.

Trini cried out as Goldar's sword struck her twice, sending her tumbling backwards into Nuala.

"Are you OK?" Nuala asked, helping her new girl-friend up, and turning back to Goldar. The two girls jumped into the air and landed double kicks to Goldar's chest plates, he didn't even seem fazed, and returned the attack with one of his own.

Nuala cried out as she rolled back to her feet, and gripped her chest. She was panting heavily and didn't know how much more she could take.

"_Nuala, Kim, Trini, we've got our hands full over here!_" Jason's voice echoed over the communicators. "_Call up the Zords and help us put this dude down!"_

"Right, we're on our way." Trini said, jumping over Goldar's next attack. Nuala flipped backwards to avoid the strike, and nodded at Trini.

"While we're at it, we can take care of Goldar and the Putties, too," she said.

Kim nodded. She had come back to help her girl-friends when she saw they had been in trouble. "Ready?" she asked as the others joined her.

"Let's do it!" Nuala said. "Dire Wolf, Dinozord Power!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger, Dinozord Power!"

"Pterodactyl, Dinozord Power!"

Jumping into the air, all six rangers took their respective places inside the cockpits of their Zords. The Minotaur that the boys had been dealing with roared loudly and charged at Billy, while Kim and Nuala took out Goldar and his Putties.

"All power systems online!" Billy said, firing lasers at the Minotaur. The monster, however, did seem all that worried and trudged on.

"I got him!" Trini said, firing lasers from the tail of her Zord. The monster stumbled slightly, but not much, although it did fall back after Trini smashed it into forcibly.

"Let me ice this dude!" Zack said, spurting frozen steam at the monster from his Mammoth trunk. Again, it seemed to have no effect on him.

"I'll get him!" Billy said, shooting the horns from the top of his Zord at the monster. They wrapped around his horns and Billy managed to pull him over onto the ground.

Picking himself up, the Minotaur growled and launched itself at Jason, at the moment it was the only Zord that he hadn't had a go at. The other two Zords were too busy defeating Goldar and the putties to worry about what he was doing.

Knocking Jason down, the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord roared loudly and flipped back to its feet with the help of its powerful tail. "Power Rangers," said Jason, "bring them together."

Initiating the Megazord sequence, the team brought their Zords together to form the almighty Megazord. Unfortunately, before they could even land a punch, Zordon was calling them back.

"Back?" Nuala asked. "But we can't leave the city unprotected."

"_I admire your compassion, Nuala, but you will need more power and further instructions to defeat this monster._"

Nuala sighed. "Alright, I get it," she said, teleporting out with the others.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Ciaran looked up as his sister and her friends appeared behind him. He wrapped his arm around Nuala and started to ask a hundred questions a minute.

"Hey, whoa, slow down, Ci," Nuala said. "Zordon, what happened back there?"

"I will answer all of your questions soon enough," Zordon said. "Your Zords have been returned to their hiding places, and now it is time for me to reveal new powers and weapons. Be hold. Billy, this is your power lance," a three pronged weapon appeared in Billy's hand, "a weapon of great power and range. Kimberly, behold your power bow," a bow and quiver of arrows appeared on Kim's hands. "Accurate and strong. Jason, this is your power sword," a red-handled sword appeared to Jason. "Key to all the weapons powers. Zachary, behold the power axe - lightning quick and as hard as diamond. Trini, your power daggers are feather-light and true as arrows. Nuala, behold your power sabre, quick and agile. Use these weapons and together you will be unstoppable."

"That Minotaur is history!" Jason said, admiring his sword.

Nuala and the others nodded.

"But does anyone have a plan on how to draw him out?" Nuala asked.

"I do," Jason said. "We corner him and give him a taste of our weapons. If that doesn't work, we bring them together and give him a blast of our mega power! Are you with me?"

"Right!"

"We're with you!"

Teleporting out of the command centre, the Rangers found the Minotaur once again at the dumpsite. They each took a strike at the monster with their personal weapon, just enough to give him a taste of their determination and power, and then combined the individual weapons to create the mega weapon.

Combing their weapons into one mighty force, Jason fired the mega blaster and vaporized the monster on the spot.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

At the end of the day, Nuala, her brother and the others returned to the High School. Ciaran was still bouncing at the idea of getting to watch a real life Power Ranger battle, although he was still bummed about knowing such a great secret and not being able to tell anyone about it.

"That's sort of the nature of secrets, little bro," Nuala said, draping her arm down his shoulder. "Besides, some secrets are harder to believe than others. Claiming to know the Power Rangers could result in you being called an attention seeker."

"True," Ciaran said, "and I'm happy that only Mum and I know. It makes me feel special."

Nuala rolled her eyes and hugged him tightly. Ciaran laughed and leaned into his sister's embrace. He loved their close knit relationship, made life so much easier for them.

"You know, things are so much easier when we work together as a team, huh?" Trini said, changing the subject. Mostly for the boy's sake than anyone else's.

"Maybe with a little team work we'll get the dump site closed down," Billy suggested.

"Uh-oh," Jason said, pointing ahead of them to where Mr. Chaplin was standing. He looked around at the paper filled floor and then up at the team.

"Look at this place. Why hasn't it been cleaned up?" He asked. "You two," he pointed at Trini and Kim. "I want to talk to you."

Kim and Trini exchanged looks, but were thankfully saved by a woman's voice on the P.A. system in his office.

"Mr. Chaplin, Mrs. Quagmire wants to talk to you."

"One moment," Mr. Chaplin said to the Rangers before walking away.

"What do you say we show a little teamwork, and get this place cleaned up?" Jason asked.

"Alright," Billy said.

Nuala grinned and directed her brother towards a brush. She then knelt down and grabbed a handful of paper, whilst Kim upturned the recycling bin and then started to help her place all the misplaced paper back inside. They had just finished as Mr. Chaplin returned.

The headmaster stopped dead and looked around him in surprise. "What happened to the mess?" he asked.

"Mess, what mess?" Jason asked.

Confused, Mr. Chaplin scratched his head and then turned his back on the team. He walked away, leaving the others to chuckle at his confusion.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Saturday 24th May, 2014 at 01:51am**


	4. A New Record

**Author's Note:** I finished writing chapter six last night. Hopefully I will have written up to chapter 10 by the time I update on Tuesday. There is a reason for why I am updating every two days, and that's because I have other stories in between this one.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **dream lighting** and** Las Nekos del Ying-Yang** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"Keep going, pal, you're doing great!" Ernie said as he coached Jason on the bench press at the Gym. "988...989...990...991...993... Come on, Jase, you can do it! 1,010 and you break the record. By the way, what number are we on?"

Jason shot Ernie a pained look. He was there to count for him, so he didn't lose concentration. "995," Jason replied, exasperated.

"Oh, right," Ernie nodded, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "996...997...998...999..."

Over on the balance beam, Kim performed a back flip, and then jumped off. She pulled on her t-shirt and walked over to Ernie and her friend. "So, what number is he on?" she asked.

"..." Ernie mumbled though his food.

"Once more, please, without the sub," Kim said, disgusted.

Ernie swallowed and replied. "1,003."

"Yes, Jason, you're going to do it!" Kim encouraged.

"Come on. 1,004..." Ernie cheered. "Kid, you're almost there! 1,005."

"I am so nervous, he's going to break the record," Kim said, giddily.

"And Angel Grove High is going to have a new winner," Ernie said.

"Ernie, what number am I on?" Jason asked, his voice straining from all the weights.

"Thousand and..." Ernie trailed off. "Uh-oh. I've lost count... Can you start again?" he asked Jason.

Jason sighed and lowered the bar to his chest. He couldn't believe Ernie had lost count.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

It had been a quiet morning, to say the least. Nuala sat cross-legged on her bed working through a few homework papers that Ms. Appleby had given her the previous day. They weren't as difficult as Nuala had expected them to be, but with a 12-month-year-old crawling around the place it was difficult to get any work done at all.

"Hey, can I borrow your coloured pencils?" Ciaran asked, sticking his head in through the door. "I'm working on a project for tomorrow, and I need to colour it in."

"Sure," Nuala said, pointing at her desk. "They should be in the top drawer - argh! Ceaser!" she cried as her Rottweiler jumped up onto her bed, trampling all of her work. "Lie down!"

The dog whined and walked behind its mistress, before lying down and allowing her to lean back against him.

"He still sleeping?" Ciaran asked, glancing into the cot at his nephew. "Man, he sleeps like a log."

"I've only just got him down," Nuala said. "Hey, where's Chaos?"

"Mum's taken him for a walk," Ciaran said. "You know how she can't handle the two of them at the same time."

"Well they are powerful dogs, and Mum's only dainty."

Ciaran laughed and held up the pencils. "Thanks for these," he said. "You can have them back when I'm done."

"Make sure that I do," Nuala said, as her brother closed her bedroom door behind him. She glanced at Ellis and smiled as he continued to sleep, and then turned her attention back to her homework. "Man, I need a break!" she said, standing up. "Come on, Ceaser, how about a snack?"

Ceaser jumped from the bed and scratched at the closed door. Nuala laughed and opened it, watching as her dog scampered off into the kitchen. "Hey, hot shot," she called, knocking her brother's door as she passed. "I'm making a snack. You want something?"

"Is there any Soda Bread here?" Ciaran asked.

"I dunno," Nuala shrugged, walking into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and peered inside. There were leftovers from last night's take-away, cookie dough, Shamrock cookies. "Nope, no Soda Bread - Ooh! Hang on," she added, opening a cupboard. "Hey, Ci, there's soda bread cookies here, do you want some?"

"Is there ice cream here?" Ciaran asked, entering the kitchen and hoping up onto a bar stool. He leaned forward and observed his sister as she wandered around the kitchen. Since it was different to their old one, it was taking a while to get used to where everything had been stowed.

"Chocolate?" Nuala asked, opening the freezer.

"That'll do."

Nuala smiled and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, she scooped two spoonful's of chocolate ice-cream into it, and added two cookies either side, she then took one last cookie, crumpled it up and sprinkled it over the top. "Sauce?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," Ciaran nodded, licking his lips as he watched Nuala drizzle chocolate syrup over his snack.

"Enjoy," Nuala said, grabbing a spoon from the drawer and sliding the bowl towards Ciaran. "Now, how about you?" she asked, looking down at Ceaser. The dog was sitting on his hind-quarters eyeing Ciaran with a look of hunger. Kneeling down, Nuala grabbed Ceaser's bowl and filled it with dog treats, and added a two halves of a cookie to it.

"Mum's going to kill you if she finds out you're feeding them cookies," Ciaran said. "You know what she's like."

"Aw, come on," Nuala said, patting her dogs head. "He's eating them, isn't he?"

"Yes, but he's not allowed them."

Nuala shrugged and grabbed a shamrock cookie. "Mum's not going to know, is she?" she asked.

"What about Chaos?"

"What about him?"

"Are you going to sneak him one too?"

"I always do when it's my turn to feed them," Nuala said, "and that just happens to be tonight. Don't worry, little brother, your dog won't go without."

Ciaran rolled his eyes, grabbed his bowl and wandered back into his bedroom.

"Don't tip anything," Nuala called after him, as she passed his room and re-entered her own. Ellis continued to sleep soundly as Nuala and Ceaser climbed back onto the bed, and settled down. "Now, where was I?" she murmured, picking up her papers, but stopped again as her communicator beeped. "Oh, you're kidding me," she sighed.

"_Nuala, Rita Repulsa is at it again. It is imperative that you teleport to the children's theatre in the park immediately._"

"What's going on?" Nuala asked, raising her communicator to her lips.

"_She has sent down a team of Putties and an unknown monster, in an attempt to gain control of the park. Be careful, and let the power protect you._"

Nuala sighed and lowered her arm.

"Is there trouble?" Ciaran asked, sticking his head inside again. He had heard his sister talking from next door and come to investigate.

"Yeah, there's a new monster attacking at the park," Nuala said. "But Mum's not back yet."

"I can watch Ellis," Ciaran said.

"I know you can, buddy, but I don't know how long I am going to be," Nuala said.

"Mum's back soon," Ciaran said, "and besides, he's asleep. I'll bring my project in here to work on, and if he wakes up, I know what to do."

"What if you have to change him?"

"Hopefully Mum will be back by then."

"What if she's not?"

Ciaran smiled at his sister. "I can handle it, Nuala," he said. "Go, you're needed."

"I can't leave either of you, Ciaran," Nuala said. "The others are going to have to deal with the monster until I can get there. Zordon will just have to understand."

Ciaran nodded. "I'll call Mum," he said. "See where she is."

"OK."

Nuala sighed as her brother disappeared, and left her alone with her thoughts. She knew that the others needed her, but she was needed at home. She couldn't burden Zordon and Alpha with Ellis and Ciaran, and she couldn't afford to leave them home alone, what if something happened to them?

"Nuala, Mum says she'll be home in ten minute," Ciaran called from the hall. "She's just leaving the park now."

"OK," Nuala replied.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Meanwhile, across the road, Kim and Zack had made it to Billy's house where Trini was.

"Billy, Trini, Jason's in trouble!" Kim said, breathlessly.

"Why, what's up?" Billy asked.

"Rita has him. You guys, he may need his friends way more than he knows," said Kim.

Trini sighed and lifted her communicator to her lips. "Jason? Jason, can you read me?" she asked, but there was no response.

"Let's teleport to the command centre right now," said Kim.

"Wait, where's Nuala?" Zack asked, noticing they were a ranger down.

"She's at home," Billy said, pointing across to Nuala's house. "I saw her mother leave earlier with one of the dogs, but no one has come and gone since then."

"Well, we need her, now," said Kim. "Billy, you get her and meet us at the command centre."

Billy nodded and hurried over to Nuala's, while the others teleported out. Knocking the door, Billy waited for an answer and was mostly relieved when Nuala finally did. "There's trouble," he told her.

"I know, Zordon already called," Nuala said. "But I had to wait for my mother to come back before I could leave."

"Is she back now?"

"Yeah, she just returned," Nuala said. "Why, what's going on?"

"Jason needs help."

"Where is he?"

Billy shrugged. "We don't know. Come on, the others are waiting for us at the command centre," he said.

"OK. Mum, I'll be back as soon as I can," Nuala called over her shoulder.

"Be careful!" Lana called back.

Nuala nodded, closed the front door and teleported away with Billy at her side.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Alpha, adjust the morphing grid, and locate Jason on the viewing globe," Zordon was saying as Nuala and Billy arrived.

The moment she arrived, Nuala turned to Kim and Zack. "Guys, I am so sorry I wasn't there," she apologised. "My mum was out and I couldn't leave Ciaran alone with Ellis and Ceaser."

"Who?" Zack asked.

"My dog - at least, one of them."

Zack nodded but waved off Nuala's apology. "Hey, don't sweat it," he said. "We understand."

"I think I have a fix on Jason," said Alpha, tinkering around with the computer console. "Ah, there..." the viewing globe sparked to life and showed Jason diving aside as a giant Goldar tried to stand on him.

"Zordon, this seems hopeless," Trini sighed.

"Indeed it would, Trini," Zordon confirmed. "Where it not for your power crystals."

"Of course!" Alpha shrieked in excitement. "Put your hands together and bring forth the power crystals."

Nuala exchanged confused looks with others, but closed her hands together. When she opened them a silver crystal appeared. "Whoa, cool!" she grinned.

"The crystals contain the essence of your morphing powers," Zordon explained. "Use them to find each other in any peril, and with your zords to draw power from the very heart of the morphing grid. I am sending the crystal directly to Jason. Once in his possession you will be able to join him and stop King Sphinx and Goldar." Nuala nodded and placed her crystal in the satchel that Alpha was carrying. "Together, they are nearly unbeatable, so call your zords quickly, and let the power protect you. Alpha, tap into the grid and send the crystals through Jason's Zord. Hurry, he doesn't have much time."

The satchel disappeared, and Nuala turned to viewing globe. Jason was still cornered by Goldar and King Sphinx, but just before they could attack him his sword flashed and a bolt of energy hit the mountain face behind him, running forward Jason avoided Goldar's eye lasers, and dug out the satchel of crystals before King Sphinx blasted him from the rubble.

"_Power Crystals! Way to go, Zordon!"_ Jason said, pulling the six crystals from the satchel. "_Hey, Ugly, I want you to meet some of my friends._"

"This is it, Rangers, prepare yourselves," Zordon told the remaining five rangers at the command centre.

The friends exchanged looks, and prepared to morph.

"It's morphin' time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Throwing the crystals into the air, Jason allowed his friends to cross from their dimension into the one that he was now. "Now you're going to see what friends working together can do," he said, thrusting his own power crystal into the air and summoning the Zords. "Dino zord power!"

Kicking off from the ground, Nuala and the others landed in the cockpit of their respective Zords and logged into the system just as Jason's voice commanded them to do so over the comms link.

"Zack here, Let's rock and roll."

"Billy here, all systems go."

"Trini here, set and ready."

"Nuala here, fired up and ready!"

"Let's jinx this sphinx."

"All right, Rangers, it's time to power up."

"2, 1, Power up!"

Nuala jabbed her power crystal into the socket beside her controls. "Time for a little Megazord action," she said, as she felt the floor beneath her feet vibrating as her Zord combined with the others. She may not have had an actual space on the Megazord itself, but she provided excellent shield and weapon systems.

"Let's show them what we're made of," Jason said as his friends popped up all around him.

Goldar growled and blasted them with a shot from his sword.

"Fire up the cannons!" Jason said. They blasted back, knocking Sphinx off course. "Let's try the crystal power."

Using their crystals, the Rangers were able to hit both Goldar and King Sphinx, unfortunately the two monsters walked through the attack without so much a scratch.

"Shift to battle mode and finish these dudes," Jason said, using the controls to shift to full Megazord form. "Megazord, armed and ready!"

"Uh-oh!" both monsters cried as they realized their only options were to back out, or go down fighting. Nothing had ever beaten the Megazord power before.

Deciding to try his luck, King Sphinx charged forward with his staff drawn. Goldar followed closely behind, but the Megazord was ready. Deflecting a blow from the sphinx, the Rangers punched Goldar in the chest, and double punched the sphinx through the air.

Both monsters growled and picked themselves up from the ground. Goldar struck the Megazord twice with his sword, and the rangers retaliated by punching him again in the stomach.

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate cats," Nuala asked. "This sphinx is starting to get on my nerves. The whole nine lives thing is ridiculous."

"I agree, Nuala," said Jason. "We're getting nowhere with these guys. Let's turn up the heat. We need the mega power sword now!" A brightly lit white sword fell from the sky, striking the ground near the Megazord. Switching from the Dire Sabre to the Mega sword, the Rangers, slicing the sphinx in half and causing him to shrink and explode.

"Drat! We'll meet again, Power Rangers," Goldar growled, crossing his arms and disappearing.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After the battle, Jason had asked Trini to keep track of the number of bench presses he had done while the others watched him, sure that he was going to beat the original bench press record this time.

"1,004...1,005..."

"Come on, Jason, tough it out, man!" Zack encouraged from the sidelines.

"1,006..."

"All right, you're going to do it!" Kim cheered.

"1,007..."

"Three more, just three more, Jase," Nuala said, bouncing Ellis on her hip.

"1,008...1,009..."

"One more, come on."

"Just one more, Jase, come on."

"1,010! Yes!"

The whole juice bar burst into applause as Jason completed his record in victory.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new record," Trini shouted to those that had come to witness Jason's triumph.

"And he comes through," Zack said, praising his friend.

"We knew you could do it, Jason!" Kim said, as Trini grabbed his hand.

"I couldn't have done it with you guys," Jason said, thankful that his friends were there to encourage him.

"Hey, your outstanding performance will have a long lasting legacy," Billy said, as he and the others helped Jason to sit up.

"What?" Jason asked, confused.

"You're record is going to last a long time," Nuala explained, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, pardon me," Ernie called, pushing through a tray with a cake upon it. "Don't touch the cake. Now, I'm asking you," he said to the group of six friends. "Is this a cake, or is this a cake?"

Leaning over to get a better look, Nuala laughed and shook her head. "Great cake, Ernie," she said. "But I think you got the inscription wrong."

"Well, what do you expect for the last minute?" Ernie asked. "It was the only cake they had left."

"Thanks for being there, guys," Jason said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Zack smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder, just as Bulk and Skull arrived behind the friends.

"Hey, muscle brains," Bulk called, addressing Jason. "I'm going to get my record back."

"Yeah, muscle brains," Skull piped up, laughing hysterically after.

Suddenly Bulk caught him by the chest, and pulled him close. "Skull, shut up! I can do my own talking."

"You guys, get a life," Kim called to them as they stalked away.

"Yeah, don't you guys ever give up?" Trini asked.

"Why don't you just have a piece of cake and chill?" Zack asked.

"Cake?" Bulk repeated. "Yeah, alright, I'll have some cake, but I get first piece."

He trudged forward, tripping over a weight on the floor and falling face first into the cake, causing the others, including Skull to laugh at him.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**I know. It's short. Hopefully they will get longer as I continue writing, and including my own ideas. At the moment I'm just trying to establish a base of operations for Nuala, and build on the friendships between her and the other Rangers, considering she is still the new girl and everything.**_

_**See you all Tuesday for a new update.**_

_**Happy reading.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Sunday, May 25, 2014 at 4:50pm**


	5. Different Drum

**Author's Note:** This chapter was interesting to write. I hope you find it just as enjoyable and entertaining.

**Dedications: **Thank you to: **powerrangerzrock** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Nuala rolled her eyes as she watched Trini and Jason arm wrestle on the bar at Ernie's juice bar, behind her music played as Kim conducted an aerobics class, while over by the door Ernie arrived pushing a cart and dancing to the music. She couldn't help but giggle at the owner of the Youth Centre.

"How's everybody feeling?" Kim asked, she spun in a circle. The class cheered, but Kim smiled and shook her head. "I still can't hear you!" the class cheered again, but louder. In the corner, trying to keep up with Kim and the others was Billy.

"This has disaster written all over it," Jason said, spotting the blue Ranger as he sat down beside Nuala.

"Yeah, he didn't strike me as the type for Aerobics," Nuala said, tapping her pencil against the side of her cheek. "He's not really the outdoorsy type, is he?"

Jason shook his head, and looked down at the many papers Nuala had strewn across the table. "You playing catch-up or something?" he asked.

Nuala chuckled, and shook her head. "It's not school work," she said. "Mum wanted me to fill in all these forms, you know like local doctors and stuff, just so if I am admitted, or if Ellis needs emergency services, they know who I am and what's wrong."

"Ah, how you finding Angel Grove so far?" Jason asked.

"Aside from the monster attacks everything is fine," Nuala said. Jason chuckled and patted her shoulder.

"Bet you didn't expect to fit in so well, huh?"

Nuala shook her head, and looked down at the form in front of her. She hadn't expected to fit in so quickly at all. She'd never been a popular girl, but rather a quiet wallflower. "No. I didn't really have many friends back in Ireland, and after I had Ellis I had even less. My social life became non-existent, and not just because I was a mother," she explained. "A lot of rumors spread about me after my classmates found out about my pregnancy, and I found that I couldn't show my face anywhere without being mocked or slandered."

"It was that bad?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. I acquired a few names after finding out I was going to be a teenage Mum," Nuala said. "'School Slut' was a favourite."

"Ouch. I'm guessing the baby's father didn't approve either, huh?"

"He doesn't know."

"You never told him?"

Nuala shook her head. "He was sentenced before I even found out," she said. "I didn't see the point in telling him he was a father, I was too humiliated by what he had done to me and I didn't think he'd care. I mean, he didn't care about me, why would he care about Ellis?"

"I'm going to take a guess and say the way you got Ellis wasn't consensual, huh?"

"No," Nuala murmured.

Jason squeezed her shoulder, and leaned in closer. "I'm sorry for bringing it up," he said.

"It's OK. I would've told you eventually," Nuala said. "It's just... I know it's been a year, but it still hurts, and I'm still humiliated by it."

"Why should you be humiliated for it?" Jason asked. "You didn't ask for it and besides, you love your son, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Nuala said, momentarily affronted by the question.

Jason held his hands up in defence. He hadn't meant anything by the question, but could clearly see that he had offended Nuala by her reply. "Sorry, what I meant was -" he cut off as Nuala shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry," Nuala apologized. "I shouldn't have bitten your head off like that."

"Tell you what," said Jason. "How about I buy you a fruit smoothie, and we forget all about it? Deal?"

Nuala chuckled and nodded. "Deal!" she said, shaking his hand.

"Alright!" Jason said, looking towards the bar. "Two fruit smoothies over here?" he asked, holding up two fingers and pointing at the table he and Nuala was sat at.

Nuala smiled and looked back at her paperwork, just as Billy stumbled into the seat beside her. He flopped down onto the table and groaned. "Aw, Billy, what happened?" Nuala asked, sliding around the table towards him. "Are you OK?"

"My main brain," Zack said, chuckling lightly as he walked over with Trini. "What's up?"

"Well, I'm intrigued by the rhythmic modulation yet daunted by the coordinating movements of the appendages," Billy said, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric of his clothes.

"Say what?" Zack asked, looking confused.

"He can't dance," Nuala answered.

"Precisely," Billy confirmed.

"He's not the only one," Jason said, pointing at a young female on the floor. She was following Kim's instructions to the T, but unfortunately spun in the wrong direction and crashed into another girl, almost knocking her over.

Nuala watched as the first female stared at the second in silent horror, before running off.

"You guys, take a break for a sec, OK?" Kim called to her class. The music stopped and Kim picked up her towel before heading over to the girl that had run off to sit on the steps near Nuala and her friends. "What happened?" Kim asked, signing to the girl.

The girl signed back.

"I'm sorry," Kim apologized. "I forgot to sign the moves. It was my fault. You think it was your fault because you're different?" she asked, reading the girl's sign language. You are a very good dancer," Kim smiled, "and even hearing people make mistakes," she pointed at where Billy was sitting with the others.

The girl giggled.

"OK, everyone, let's do one more song and then we'll call it a day," Kim said, taking her deaf friend's hand, and leading her back onto the dance floor.

Nuala smiled as she caught Kim's eye, and then turned her attention back to Billy. "Come on, Billy, it's not that bad," she said, draping her arm over him, and resting her chin on his arm. "Not everyone can dance. Besides, this is just for fun."

"Fun... and easy," said Bulk as he and Skull arrived just in time to catch the end of the conversation.

"You think so, huh?" Zack asked, turning in his seat. "I'd like to see you try it."

Bulk bowed, mockingly, before taking a step to the left, a step to the right, and then kicking Jason's chair out from underneath him. The red Ranger managed to catch onto the end of the table to support him, upturning his smoothie glass and almost knocking it over Nuala's paperwork.

"Easy," Zack said, as Jason made a move towards Bulk. "So you can get with those steps. But can you get with these?" He busted out a few fresh dance moves, recieving applause from those around him.

"No problem!" Bulk said, pointing at Skull. He then stepped forward to try and mimic Zack, but failed to get the first step right. The crowd that had gathered chuckled as Bulk clapped his hand, signaling the end of his attempt.

"Here, hold up," Zack said, stepping forward again. He spun in a circle and ended with a split before sliding back to his feet, and rejoining his friends.

"Yo, Zack, yes!" Trini praised.

"Piece of cake," Bulk said, grunting and spinning in a circle. He slipped into half a split, but ended up ripping his trousers instead, much to the amusement of those around him.

"OK. Try this one," Zack said, spinning around and running towards the bar. He pushed up onto it, supporting himself for a few seconds, and then jumping back down.

Nuala bit her lip and looked around at Jason, "Now _this_ is a disaster waiting to happen," she said.

Jason chuckled and nodded, he couldn't agree more.

Once again trying to copy Zack, Bulk rushed at the bar, but instead of jumping up onto it, he slid straight across it and crashed down behind. Everyone in the gym laughed loudly as Bulk popped back up covered in cake and whipped cream.

"Hey, we better bail or we're going to miss the movie," Zack said, as Kim dismissed her class and joined her friends.

"Yeah, you better bail fast because nobody tricks me," Bulk threatened.

"Really?" Zack asked, as Nuala packed away her papers into her backpack. "Looks like we already did. Come on, guys, let's go."

Hoisting her backpack up onto her shoulders, Nuala looped her arms through Jason's and Billy's and allowed them to lead her from the Juice bar.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

With the Rangers on their way to the movie theatre, Ciaran and his new friends were passing the Youth Centre when a monster appeared out of thin air.

"Dudes, look out!" Ciaran's friend, Matthew yelled. He pointed at the monster and stumbled backwards over an edge, taking Ciaran with him. Ciaran winced as he scraped his elbow on the wall during the tumble, but managed to get to his feet, and pull Matthew down the street as the others scampered off in different directions.

Fortunately the boys had managed to escape, _unfortunately_ a group of girls were exiting the Youth Centre, and didn't seem to notice the monster. Instead they walked straight into his musical trap, all of them except Kim's deaf friend that was. She frowned as the girls around her suddenly stopped dead, and stared into space. Their eyes flashed yellow and suddenly they started walking, following a monster that looked like a Viking.

"Come with me, my pretties," the monster cackled. "Rita wants to play." He led them out of town, towards a cave in the side of a mountain. "Come on. You can't resist, and neither will the Power Rangers. Once they hear my magic tune, they'll be totally in my power. So, come, my beauties, come and dance."

Kim's friend hid behind a clump of bushes as she watched the Gnome led her friends into the cave. She tried to follow, but was shut out by a net over the entrance. Realizing that she wasn't getting inside, the girl turned toe and rushed back to the Youth Centre in search of help.

There she spotted Jason and Ernie, and rushed over to them. She rapidly signed what she had saw, but neither Jason nor Ernie understood sign language, and therefore had no idea what she was trying to tell them.

"Seems like she wants something," Jason said. "What's the matter?" he asked.

The girl sighed and took Ernie's notebook from his pocket, along with a pen. She then scribbled down all that she had seen.

"Help, my friends are in danger," Jason read aloud. He looked up at Ernie, and reached behind him to grab his coat. "Come on, we'll get your friends. We're going to help you!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala looked up as Jason and Kim's friend almost collided with her and Billy outside the Youth Centre, she had just found Ciaran and his friend Matthew cowering in an alley. Both looked reasonably shaken, and Ciaran had torn the skin on his elbow.

"Hey, Jase, is everything OK?" Nuala asked, noticing the panicked look on his face. "You're Kim's friend," she said, pointing at the girl.

"Something's happened," Jason said. "Her friends are in danger. We have to help them."

"What kind of danger?" Billy asked.

"There was a monster here earlier," Ciaran said, suddenly. "He looked like a Viking and he was playing an accordion."

Nuala looked suddenly at her brother, and then back at Jason and Billy. If there was a monster running around Angel Grove, why hadn't Alpha or Zordon contacted them yet?

"We have to find the others," Jason said. "Do you know where they are?"

"They're supposed to be meeting us back here," Billy said. "There they are," he added, spotting Trini, Zack and Kim over Jason's shoulder.

The girl with Jason turned and spotted Kim, before rushing over quickly.

"Ciaran, take Matthew inside," Nuala said, pushing her brother towards the door of the Youth Centre. "Stay there until I come get you, OK?"

Ciaran nodded and headed for the door.

"And ask Ernie if he can clean up your arm," Nuala called after him. "Lead the way," she added to Jason and the girl, after she had watched Ciaran disappear inside.

With the team assembled, Kim's friend led them out to where she had seen the monster take her friends.

"They're in there?" Jason asked, as the girl pointed to the entrance that was still covered by the net.

"OK. OK, I want you to hide here," Kim said, grabbing her friend's arm, "and wait for me, OK? Go up behind the bushes."

The girl nodded and run off. As the girl disappeared from view, Jason turned to his friends. "All right, guys, its morphin' time."

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Power Rangers!"

The monster cackled as he appeared outside the cave, wielding a savage looking weapon. He slashed it through the air and fired luminous bubbles at the Rangers, and blasting them off of their feet.

Diving aside both Kim and Trini jumped into the air and fired their weapons at the monster - with Trini throwing her daggers at him, but they didn't even leave a dent. Fortunately, Billy and Zack's attack knocked the monster off cause, and left him open for a strike from Nuala.

"All right, ugly, release the girls," Jason said, wielding his power sword.

"Never!" the monster snarled, firing bubbles again. Jason swiped through the bubbles and struck the monster hard, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Lock them up!" Jason said, assembling the power blaster. He levelled it at the Gnome and fired. The monster exploded, and then returned. "I call on the power of the mighty Dino zord! Let's do it!"

"Right!" Kim, Trini and Nuala said, jumping up into their respective Zords.

"Morphin'!" Zack and Billy added, following behind their friends.

"Rangers, log on," said Jason as he landed in the cockpit of his Zord.

"Zack here - all systems go."

"This is Billy - I'm nominal."

"Trini here - ready to rock."

"Nuala here - ready and able!"

"I just love this part," Kim chuckled.

"Let's show them some Megazord power," Jason said, combing all six Zords to form the Megazord battle mode. "Power up you crystals."

Nuala removed the circular crystal from her morpher, and enlarged it. She then slotted it into the console beside her controls.

The gnome snarled at the Megazord and charged forward, raising its weapon to attack. Using the dire spear, Nuala blocked and twirled the weapon from the monster's hands.

"You haven't won yet, Rangers," the gnome said, summoning his accordion. "Listen to my music, fall under my powers."

Nuala grabbed her head as a sound - like claws on a chalkboard infiltrated her ears and almost deafened her. The quaking of the Megazord jarred her back to reality. The Gnome had taken advantage of the Rangers momentarily deafness to attack.

Slumping forward in his seat, Jason leaned against his controls and caused the Megazord to punch the Gnome in the nose, causing him to drop the accordion and cease the music from playing.

"Oh, man, power up the mega sword!" Jason said, shaking his head to rid it of the awful tune.

Angrily the gnome fired blasters at the Megazord from the horns on his hat, causing a shower of sparks to erupt outside of the Megazord.

"Strike three, you're out!" the Rangers commanded, striking the monster with the sword and causing him to explode.

"Alright, Power Rangers, let's get the girls and take them home!" Jason said, ejecting from the Megazord.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Back at the Youth Centre, Ciaran was sat playing a few games with his friends. He looked up as Nuala's voice reached his ears. She was with her friends, and a group of girls. Excusing himself from his friends, Ciaran rushed over and wrapped his arms around his sister's waist.

"Did you see the Power Rangers?" he asked, eagerly.

"No, I didn't," Nuala said. "They'd taken off by the time we got there."

"Aw, man!" Ciaran said, causing Nuala to squeeze him in a one-armed hug.

"How's your arm?" Nuala asked.

"It feels fine," Ciaran said. "Ernie cleaned it up, and put a Band-Aid on. See?" he showed her the small graze with a plaster covering it.

"Good," Nuala said. "Maybe now you'll be a little more careful, huh?"

Ciaran offered her a cheeky smile, and Nuala chuckled as she hugged him again. "So what happened?" he asked, eager to know more.

"Well, Melissa ran for help," Kim explained to Ciaran and the kidnapped girls who were completely confused on what had happened, "and this totally manky monster hypnotized you and trapped you in a cave."

"So, like, without her," Zack said, pointing at Melissa, "and the Power Rangers."

"We could have been trapped forever," said the girl that had snapped at Melissa earlier that morning. "Hey, we owe you big time," she added, wrapping her arms around Melissa in a hug.

"Yeah, alright!" Zack said, as the others hugged Melissa. "Hey, let's go get some ice cream, huh?"

"What do you say, Ci, you want an ice cream?" Nuala asked, looking down at her brother.

"When have I ever turned down a free ice cream?" Ciaran asked, rushing towards the bar. He hopped up onto a barstool, as Ernie called out to Nuala.

"Hey, Nuala, your Mom just left you a message," Ernie said. "She says she's outside with the baby, so go and get the little tyke already."

"All right, Ernie, I'm going," Nuala said. "I'll be right back, you guys," she added to her friends, and disappeared out of the Youth Centre.

"As for the rest of you," Ernie said, putting a tray of glasses on the bar. "Sodas on the house."

"Yeah, alright, Ernie!"

"My man!"

Jason lifted his glass into the air. "And to our guest of honor," he said, patting Melissa on the arm.

"Hey, Nuala, over here!" Trini called, waving the silver Ranger over. Nuala smiled and slipped into the seat between the yellow Ranger and Jason, and placed Elis on her lap as Melissa signed something to Billy.

"What did she say?" Billy asked Kim.

"She wants to know if you want to dance," Kim replied.

"Oh, no, no..." Billy said, shaking his head rapidly.

"Yeah, come on, Billy," the others said, urging the blue Ranger to take a chance.

"Come on, Billy," Nuala said. "Just remember - Dancing is about having fun. It doesn't matter if you can't do it properly."

Billy sighed and put down his glass as Melissa tugged him out onto the dance floor, he offered Nuala an exasperated look as she giggled at him, and then turned her attention to her brother, who appeared kneeling, beside her, and feeding Ellis small spoonful's of ice cream from his chocolate fudge sundae.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated** **Tuesday, 27 May 2014 at 6:15pm**


	6. Food Festival

**Author's Note:** Usually I wouldn't update this until tomorrow, but I am posting now to give you all a heads up. My grandfather was taken into hospital this afternoon, and things are not looking good. There is a good chance that, depending on visiting hours and who's visiting (which will usually be me and my grandmother) updates may be slow. But I won't leave you hanging for weeks on end. In respect to my fellow readers, I will do my best to update **Secrets and Lies** at some point tomorrow as we are, literally, one episode away from the Once a Ranger arc. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and hopefully I will see you Friday.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Weathergirl17248** and** Pelawen Night** for adding this story to their favorites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"Ciaran, leave some for the festival, yeah?" Nuala called as she passed the kitchen where Ciaran was eating the soda bread her mother had made the previous evening.

"Mum just put plenty in the car," Ciaran called back, and then stuffed more bread into his mouth. His dog, Chaos whined as he sat on the floor in front of his master. "Don't tell Nuala," Ciaran said tearing a chunk off the loaf and feeding it to the Rottie.

Chaos accepted it happily whilst Nuala's dog, Ceaser nabbed at the cookies on the worktop.

"If you've finished sneaking soda bread, Ci, maybe you could help Nuala outside," Lana said re-entering the kitchen with a gurgling Ellis on her hip. "We're going to be late otherwise."

"All over it, Mum," Ciaran said, as he put the empty plate he had been using in the sink, and then headed outside. "Why did you make so much stuff?" he asked.

"I didn't make half of what I wanted," Nuala said. "Mostly its cookies and cake."

"Yeah, but half of the stuff we've eaten, California has probably eaten too," Ciaran said. "I mean, you're not taking fruit and Veg in, are you?"

"No," Nuala said, carefully closing the boot and turning to her brother. "Can you make sure that the car seat is secured? The last thing I need is Ellis falling out on the way."

"Is Mum coming with us?" Ciaran asked.

"No, she's going to stay home with the dogs," Nuala said.

Ciaran nodded. "In that case, I call shotgun!" he laughed.

Nuala rolled her eyes as she headed back inside. "I'll be right back," she said.

"What are you getting now?" Ciaran complained. He had made sure the car seat was secure, and was climbing into the front of the car.

"Uh, Ellis?" Nuala said, disappearing into the house.

"Oh," Ciaran said, sheepishly. He shrugged and climbed into the car, buckling himself up as Nuala returned with his nephew.

"Are you sure you've got everything?" Lana asked, following them out. She closed the gate behind her daughter as to try and keep the dogs in the garden. It was rather pointless, if Ceaser and Chaos wanted to get out then all they had to do was to jump the fence.

Nuala withdrew from the car after she had buckled Ellis in, and nodded. "I'm pretty sure. Cookie - check, Ciaran - check, Ellis - check," she said, ticking the items off on her fingers. "What else is there?"

"You know, Ireland's not only about its cookies and cakes, you know?" Lana said. "You could've made freshwater smoked trout or salmon."

"I did," Nuala said. "I was saving it for dinner later."

"We can always take more, Nuala," Lana said.

"I have some seafood - Oysters and Shellfish - ooh, Ci, I also made Boxty."

Ciaran's face lit up at the mention of his favourite pancake. He wasn't an exact pancake lover, but having tasted Boxty once during a Pancake Day event at school, he'd been love with ever since.

"I don't want to take too much," Nuala said.

"OK," Lana said. "But you need anything else, give me a call."

"Will do, Mum," Nuala said, climbing into the car beside her brother. She put the car into reverse, and then into drive and pulled off down the street. In the rearview mirror she could see her mother waving from the gate, before disappearing from sight.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Ernie grinned as he entered the Youth Centre and looked around at all the directions and tables. In his hands he carried a tray of pies and wore an orange and red Lei garland around his neck and another around his head.

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "This is going to be good."

"Hi, Ernie," said two girls' as they approached. They were wearing grass skirts, and carrying Lei garland's on their arms.

"Hi, Girls," Ernie replied, "Hey, don't just there, you clowns," he added to Bulk and Skull who were sulking in the corner, flicking small objects at everyone. "Give me a hand with these."

Bulk and Skull grinned and rushed over to the two girls. Ernie sighed and shook his head. "Not them, you bozos," he said. "Help me carry the cream pies." He handed the two trays to the two boys, and then linked arms with the two girls and walked away.

Kimberly and Trini giggled as they watched the scene take place, before heading back to their own tables.

"How you doing, girls?" Mr. Caplan asked as they ventured passed him.

"Hi," the yellow and pink Rangers smiled.

"Well, looks like the cultural food festival is going to be a great success," Mr. Caplan said. "Yes, we should raise a lot of money for the pre-school and daycare centre."

"Oh, what's this, huh?" Mr. Caplan asked pointing to the cake Kimberly was carrying.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, Mr. Caplan, you have to buy it first," Kim said, moving the tray aside from his wayward fingers

"I believe that one's $20," Billy said, holding up a collecting jar.

"Well, I wasn't really very hungry anyway," Mr. Caplan said, grumpily.

"Hey, let's get back to work, kids," Ernie said, passing the group as Mr. Caplan walked away. "Doors open in 10 minutes - speaking of which, where's Nuala? She's supposed to be bringing cookies."

"I have cookies," Nuala said as she entered the room. She was carrying Ellis's car seat on one arm, with the baby gurgling happily inside, and two trays of food on the other arm. Behind her came Ciaran with an airtight container and a cooler camping.

Zack scoffed as he walked over to help. "What did you do?" he chuckled. "Bring all of Ireland with you?"

"Now that would be cool," Nuala said with a smile. "Home away from Home. But no, I had to make sure that I made enough, because someone keeps eating it!" she looked pointedly at Ciaran.

"What?" Ciaran asked, putting what he was carrying down on the table that had been reserved for them. "It's not my fault you're a good cook."

"Yeah, but gluttony's a sin," Nuala replied.

Ciaran stuck his tongue out at her, and started to set up the table. They didn't have much time, which meant he needed to hurry in order to be prepared.

"What exactly did you bring?" Kim asked. "Aside from this little tyke. Hello, tiger toes," she cooed, wiggling her fingers as Ellis wrapped his tiny fingers around them.

"I tried to do a bit of everything," Nuala said. "But there are some things that I _can't_ cook - that's Boxty, it's a traditional Irish potato pancake - Ciaran loves them, but that's not saying much because he loves everything."

"I can hear you, you know?" Ciaran said from his end of the table. "Anyone like Shellfish? We have Oysters, I don't like them," he said, grinning at his sister.

Nuala rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile and shake her head at the same time. "I think that's about the only thing you _don't_ like," she teased. "Anyway, we have black pudding - don't ask what's it in - soda bread, it's a popular yeast-free bread -"

"And it's delicious," Ciaran piped in.

"He'd eat it all-day, every-day if he could," Nuala said, causing her friends to chuckle. They had to admit Nuala and Ciaran's relationship was an amusing one. "I also made cookies and cakes, per Ernie's request - I did have white pudding and Champ, but my dogs ate them this morning."

"This is gonna be an awesome food fair," Zack said, trying to steal a cookie from the tray Nuala had just unwrapped, only to have her slap his hand away.

"I just hope Rita isn't hungry for trouble today," Jason said.

"Oh, don't say it," Nuala whined. "My mum is dog-sitting this morning, which is why I brought Ciaran and Ellis with me."

"Don't you trust your dogs?" Trini asked.

"Oh, I trust my dogs, they've been trained to accept the baby," Nuala said, "but I can't expect my Mum to watch all four of them. It wouldn't be fair."

"We all help out in our house," Ciaran said, snatching a piece of Boxty from the table and darting away, laughing.

Nuala scowled after him, and Billy rounded the table to stand beside her. He had offered to help her for the day, and Nuala was more than thankful for it.

"Nearly time, guys," Ernie called from the door.

"Have fun," Kim said to Nuala as she and Jason walked back to their table, while Zack and Trini returned to their own.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Ready?" Billy asked.

Nuala smiled and nodded. "Ciaran, come here," she called to her brother. "Do you want to help me on the table, or do you want to help me with Ellis?" she asked.

"Can't I play with Ellis?" Ciaran asked.

"Sure, but don't get in the way of people, OK?"

Ciaran nodded, and held his hand up. "Scouts honor," he said, easing the car seat onto the floor behind his sister, and sitting down. He made sure that both Nuala and Billy and space to move around without tripping over them, and started to make funny faces at his nephew, who giggled happily.

Within ten seconds the doors were open, and the youth centre was flooded with outsiders, all eager to try a little of everything at the food festival. Over in the corner were Ernie's hula girls performing the traditional hula dance for everyone, whilst others were stationed behind their tables, some wearing traditional clothing. Nuala was wearing a St. Patrick's top hat her mother had found the previous evening.

"Hey, try the gold old American Cheeseburger," Kim called from one end of the room.

"Come and get 'em!" Jason added, holding up a tray. "Fresh of the grill!"

"Nuala," Ciaran said, looking up at his sister. "Can I have a cheeseburger?"

Nuala smiled and dug into her pocket for her purse. "Here," she said, handing him some cash.

"Thanks, Nuala!" Ciaran grinned, running off across the hall to where Jason and Kim were situated. The red and pink Rangers smiled as he joined them.

"They're, uh, Celtic Spiral cookies, and their mint chocolate clouds," Nuala said to a young woman with blonde hair. She put two cookies on a plate along with a cloud cupcake and smiled. "Thanks."

"Are these butter mice really as nice as they sound?" asked Matthew, Ciaran's friend.

Nuala smiled at him. "Why don't you give them a try?" she asked, handing him a mouse. "They're actually peanut butter."

"Mhm," Matthew smiled, walking away.

"I see your cookies are a success," Billy teased, as Nuala knelt behind him to unbuckle Ellis from his car seat. The baby had started to fuss and cry now that he had been left alone.

"Cookies usually are with little kids," Nuala said, straightening up and balancing her son on her hip. "Teenagers prefer cookies too. Isn't that right, tiger toes? Want one?" she pulled Ellis's hand from his mouth, and put half a soft-breaded tea cake in it.

Ellis rammed it into his mouth.

"This is just what I like to see," Mr. Caplan said, walking past Billy and Nuala's table. "Good healthy community spirit - ooh, cookie," he picked one up and walked away.

"It's OK," Nuala said, stopping Billy from going after. "One cookie is not going to hurt."

"You're mum is right," said Billy, "You're a softie."

Nuala chuckled, as she stared open-mouthed at Billy. "Point taken," she said, nudging him as two little girls run over to their table. From the looks of them they looked like twins.

"Is that soda bread?" they asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, you want some?" Nuala asked.

"Yes, please."

Nuala smiled and Billy cut two slices of bread off for the two girls, who accepted them with simultaneous 'thank yous' and then run back off into the crowd.

"Hey, Mr. Caplan," Trini called to the principal as he wandered by. "Try some of these delicious stir-fried vegetables."

"Well, let me see here," Mr. Caplan said, looking at the table.

"Sesame chicken salad?" Trini asked. "Or maybe some chow mein?"

From where he stood with Jason and Kim, Ciaran could see Bulk. His eyes widened as he saw him near Ernie's pie table, and tapped Jason arm to point them out. Unfortunately for the red Ranger, before he could do anything or make an attempt to stop Bulk from throwing a pie, the wannabe bully had already hit Skull - although his intended target was the principal.

"FOOD FIGHT!" Skull yelled, after wiping the cream from his face. Within seconds of his yell food was flying from every corner of the room.

Nuala screamed and cradled Ellis close to her as she ducked beneath the table in order to avoid any wayward food, whilst Ellis started to cry from the sudden loud noises within the room.

"Come on, follow me," said Billy, easily leading Nuala towards the door. The teen mother rushed out, using her jacket to cover her baby as much as she could.

"Oh, god, Ciaran's still in there," Nuala said, looking back into the room. It was one messy brawl of food and although she knew that her brother wasn't in any remote danger, she still didn't want him involved with the food fight.

"Here he comes," Billy said, spying Ciaran, Jason and Kim making their way towards the door. Trini and Zack weren't that far behind them.

Ciaran rushed through the doors and into the hallway, catching his sister's arm as he slipped. "I saw him," he said. "I saw Bulk, he started it!"

"I believe you," Nuala said. "But we gotta stop this!"

"She's right," Jason said.

"Yeah, we gotta save the food fair!" Trini agreed.

"Nuala, you stay out here with Ciaran and Ellis," said Jason. "We'll sort out in there."

"Be careful," Nuala said, bouncing Ellis from side to side to calm him down.

As the other Rangers rushed back into the room, Ciaran approached the door to watch them. He wanted to help, but he also didn't want to get into trouble for being involved.

"What's going on?" Nuala asked, drawn in by her brother's laughter as she continued to try and soothe a fussy Ellis. She had been hit by more food than he had, but he was still covered in splatters of cream from wayward pies, and there were splurges of chocolate and crumbs of cake and cookies in his clothes.

"Jason just got Bulk to drop a pie onto his own head," Ciaran said, "and Kim got Skull to throw a bowlful of walnuts over Bulk. Hey, do you think I'll be able to nab the Boxty if I'm real quick?"

"No, you'll stay where I can see you," Nuala said, sliding down onto the floor of the hallway. "Here, give me your jacket."

Ciaran shed his top coat and lay it out on the floor. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I think there are bits of food in his clothes," Nuala answered as she laid Ellis on top of the jacket. "They may be irritating him, which is why I can't calm him down." She eased Ellis's t-shirt over his head and shook it out. There wasn't much crumbs inside, but enough to annoy someone, especially a baby.

"... IS IT!"

Nuala and Ciaran exchanged looks as Mr. Caplan's voice shouted from inside the youth centre. Quickly jumping to his feet, Ciaran run back to the door to see what was going on. The food fight had come to an abrupt halt, and everyone was staring at the principal.

"Ooh! Look at this mess!" Mr. Caplan said wringing out his hair piece and slapping it soggily back down onto his head. "Our food festival is ruined, and you -" he pointed at the Ranger team, "should be ashamed of yourselves! I only hope we have enough money for the playground equipment!"

"But, Mr. Caplan -" said Ciaran, as he squeezed through Jason and Trini. He wanted to tell the principal who had started the food fight, hopefully before he blamed anyone who had tried to stop it.

"Oh, I don't want to hear any excuses!" Mr. Caplan interrupted, as Jason pulled Ciaran back. "Here! Here, you're in charge of the cleanup!" the principal added, shoving a brush into Zack's hands.

As Mr. Caplan filed out, so did everyone else. Bulk and Skull smirked and Nuala as she passed them, cuddling Ellis close to her.

"Hey, is he OK?" Billy asked as Nuala stopped beside him. He noticed that Ellis was sucking his fingers and resting his head against his mother's shoulder.

"Yeah, he just got a little scared," Nuala answered, as their communicators beeped.

Glancing around to make sure that they were safe, Jason lifted his communicator to his lips and opened a link between him and the command centre. "We read you, Zordon," he said.

"_Power Rangers, I need you at the command centre immediately!_"

"We're on our way," said Jason.

"I get to come with you, right?" Ciaran asked.

"I can't exactly leave you here now, can I?" Nuala asked. "Unless you want to stay here and start cleaning up?"

Ciaran made a face, a face that caused Nuala to chuckle and pull him close. With Ellis in one arm, and Ciaran standing as close as he could get, Nuala allowed him to tap the three buttons on either side of her communicator to activate the teleportation sequence.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Kim scrunched her nose up in disgust as she watched Rita's new monster - Pudgy Pig scamper around downtown Angel Grove.

"Man, this dude needs a serious diet," Zack said, watching as the pig walked into the urkupina market looking for food.

"Ugh! Doesn't he ever stop?" Trini asked as the pig cleared everything in sight.

"The images you see happened just moments ago," Zordon explained. "It appears that Rita has unleashed a ravenous pig upon the Earth. Its sole purpose is to eat."

"Dang! If this dude keeps this up, he'll eventually eat everything," Zack exclaimed.

"I calculate he will consume the entire supply of food on Earth in 48 hours," Zordon said.

"So he's going to get around the world in 2 days?" Ciaran asked. "Man, that's messed up!"

"This pig must be stopped," Zordon said.

"Look at that thing," said Kim. "It's so gross!"

"I hate pigs," said Nuala. "It is the one animal that I've always had a fear about. They literally eat everything and anything. They'll even eat a human."

"Greetings, dudes and dudettes," said Alpha. The Rangers and Ciaran turned to see him walking into the command centre wearing an apron and cooking hat, all the while carrying a wooden spoon and automatic whisk. "I thought I'd give you a hand with the food for the festival."

Ciaran frowned and looked up at Nuala. "I didn't even know the command centre had a kitchen," he whispered.

"Neither did I," Nuala replied. It was strange to think that Zordon and Alpha would need a kitchen.

"Later, Alpha," Zordon called down from his tube. "Our Power Rangers have work to do. I wish you luck."

Nuala quickly handed Ellis over to Ciaran, and warned him to be careful and good for Alpha while she was gone; she then fell into formation with the others.

"Guys, its morphin time!" Jason said, looking around at the others.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Power Rangers!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Arriving downtown, the Rangers each looked up to where the pig was sitting and waiting for them.

"Alright, Porker! The pig feast is over!" said Jason, stopping a few feet away from the massive pig.

"Oh, yeah, you're finished, Pig!" Zack chimed.

"He is so disgusting!" Kim groaned.

"Come down and fight like a pig!" Trini called.

Pudgy Pig snorted at them, and jumped down from the rooftop, ready to fight. Summoning their primary weapons, the Rangers raced forward and attacked. But Pudgy Pig was more than ready for them.

Nuala struggled as her Power Sabre was sucked into the pig's mouth, along with Billy's Power Mace. "When I said pigs will eat anything, I didn't mean _everything_!" she whined as her weapon disappeared completely.

"No! Trini, get him while he's eating!" Billy shouted to his friend.

Trini and Kimberly nodded and jumped over the pig, turning mid-flight to attack with their own weapons. The pig merely opened its snout and gobbled down the daggers and arrow, before sucking in Kim's bow for seconded helpings.

Rushing in to cover his friends, Zack struck the pig several times with his axe, before also losing it to the large glutton's eating habits.

"Look out, guys," Jason said, running past each of his friends as they helped one another to their feet again. He rammed into the pig and kicked it away, before striking with his Power sword; the pig snarled in response and clashed at Jason with his hooves. Stumbling back, Jason lost control of his sword and it soared into the air, falling back down into the monsters mouth.

"Here I come!" Pudgy Pig said, firing energy lasers from his eyes, and smog breath from his snout.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Blinking, Zack looked around him in confusion and then back at the others. They had demorphed and were hastingly getting to their feet. "What a weird way to travel," he said.

"I think I'll stick to walking or by car," Nuala said, brushing off her jeans and straightening up.

"This is too strange," Jason said, pulling Kimberly to her feet just as his communicator beeped.

"_Power Rangers, while you were caught in the pig's vortex, he found his way into your food festival and his causing chaos,_"

"What?" Trini and Kim asked, exchanging panicked looks.

"Oh, no," Nuala said. "There wasn't much food left after the fight. If that thing is there now, there's going to be none left."

"Come on," said Jason, leading the others across town to Youth Centre. People screamed and ran from the building as loud snorts and snarls could be heard from inside the hall where the festival had been held.

Nuala squeaked and gripped Billy's hand as they pushed through the mob of people trying to get out of the food festival, and away from the pig. By the time they had made it into the room, the pig had gone, leaving behind an even bigger mess for them to deal with.

"I guess we're too late," Billy sighed.

"Man, he ate everything in sight," Jason complained, looking around at most of the empty tables.

"Mr. Caplan is gonna flip his wig... again," said Zack.

"We gotta stop that pig," said Jason.

"Yeah, but how? That thing just swallowed our weapons," said Kim, hands on hips.

Scanning the room, Trini's gaze stopped on the table she had been commandeering earlier that morning and smiled. "Hey, wait a minute," she said. "Do you see what I see? Come on," she led them over to her table, and motioned to the other parts of the room. "Look around... that pig ate everything in sight, but it didn't touch the hot stuff."

"Well, obviously he doesn't like spicy foods," Kim said.

"Yeah, but we could use that information to defeat the monster," said Billy.

"How do you figure that?" Zack asked, confused.

"Do you know how they kill animals in the wild?" Nuala asked the black Ranger. "They lure them in with food. In offering food as bait, the animal lower's its self-defenses making them an easy target."

"Exactly," said Trini.

"Morphenomenal idea," Kim grinned.

"So we make it sick, then we can get our weapons back," said Jason, impressed.

"Affirmative," Billy confirmed.

"Let's do it!" Jason said, activating his communicator. "Zordon, we found a way to defeat the pig."

"We just need to know where he is," Trini added.

"_My sensors tell me that it is terrorizing the food packing plant,_" Zordon replied. "_Go now, Power Rangers, and let the power protect you._"

"We're on our way!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Teleporting to the food packing plant, the Rangers oversaw the monster's destruction from above. Calling forth the pudgy pig, and tempting it with the platters of food they had managed to create out of what was left at the food festival, before Trini tossed a sub, containing a horse radish, down for the monster to gobble up.

The rangers waited a few seconds, before there was an explosion from the pig's enormous gut, and it started to spew out everything it had last eaten - including their weapons. Jumping down from their vantage point, the Rangers nabbed their weapons from the air and attacked simultaneously as the Pudgy Pig stumbled all over the place.

"Alright, let's finish this porker!" Jason said, assembling the single weapons into the mega blaster. They levelled it at the pig, and fired, causing him to topple over and explode.

"Hey, Rita," Nuala shouted, looking up at the skies. "You have to do better than that if you want to beat us!"

"Yeah!" the others agreed, exchanging high-fives in victory over their latest defeat.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After retrieving Ellis and Ciaran from the command centre, the Rangers returned to the Youth Centre to clean up the mess from both the food fight and the Pudgy Pig. Nuala quickly located Ellis's car seat which, thankfully, hadn't been touched by any of the flying food due to someone having shoved it under a table and out of sight.

"That kid's always a sleep," said Zack, teasingly as Nuala lifted the car seat up onto the table and set Ellis down inside of it.

"He's had a long day," Nuala defended, although she knew Zack was messing around.

"He hasn't done anything!"

"Wow, you and Ciaran are so alike," Nuala said, remembering her brother and said the exact words when they first arrived in Angel Grove.

"What, attractive and cool?" Zack asked high-fiving Ciaran and laughing.

Nuala groaned and run a hand through her hair. "Oh, god," she complained. "Please don't corrupt him."

"I'm offended by the insinuation," Zack gasped, mockingly.

The others laughed at the banter as their communicators beeped.

"If that's another monster," said Nuala, "I'm going to lose it!

"_Oh, happy days, I have figured out a way to defeat that pesky pig,_" Alpha said.

"Whoa, Alpha, I think we have the problem under control," Jason told the little robot.

"Yeah, that pig is sausage, man," Zack chirped in.

"Yeah, but he ruined our food festival," Trini said, almost saddened at the whole nature of the day.

"_Oh, that's too bad. Maybe these'll help,_" said Alpha, and seconds later three trays appeared in the arms of Billy, Kim and Zack.

"Hey, thanks, Alpha," Zack grinned at the sandwiches'.

Ciaran laughed, and turned to see Mr. Caplan enter the room behind them. "Uh, guys," he said, pointing out the principal to the others.

"Hi, Mr. Caplan," Kim greeted. "Look, we're really sorry about what happened."

"Look, I know you kids weren't responsible," said Mr. Caplan.

"Yeah, it was Bulk and Skull," interrupted Ciaran. "I saw them. They -" the rest of his sentence was muffled as Nuala put her hand over his mouth in an attempt to shut him up. She then smiled at the principal and motioned for him to continue.

"As I was saying," said Mr. Caplan. "We almost have enough money for the playground equipment, despite all of this."

"With a little help, Mr. Caplan, we can make up for the rest," Trini said, eager to get the principal to buy a sandwich off of them.

"Mhm, well, let's see what you've got..." said Mr. Caplan. He picked up a sandwich and nodded. "I'll take this."

"That'll cost you $20," Trini reminded him.

$20?" Mr. Caplan repeated.

"For the playground equipment?" Nuala said.

"OK. I'm starving," said Mr. Caplan taking $20 from his wallet. "With all this craziness, I didn't eat lunch today." He handed Trini the money, and lifted the sandwich up to eat.

"Oh, no, not that one, Mr. Caplan -" said Billy, spotting a piece of horse radish sticking out of the sub. But it was too late, the damage had been done. Mr. Caplan's eyes bulged, and he dropped the sub whilst flailing his hand in front of his mouth.

"Water," he choked, seizing the jug of liquid from Kimberly and downing it in major gulpfulls.

Jason and Nuala exchanged amused smiled as Mr. Caplan looked back at them. His face and suit was completely soaked, and his hair piece was lying on the floor behind him. "Ahh... a little hot, but not bad," he said, earning a round of laughter from those present.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at 11:03pm**


	7. Brain Switch

**Author's Note:** I decided to skip **Big Sisters** as it didn't really bring anything worthwhile to the story, and I couldn't find a way to write it. This was possibly one of my favourite chapters to write, so I hope you enjoy it.

**Dedications: **Thank you to: **Darl Yellow Dino** and** Dguice** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"Hey, Nuala," Kim called as she arrived outside of Billy's house to find her silver Ranger friend, hanging out in the front garden with her brother. They both had pump-action water guns and Ciaran was chasing Nuala around the garden trying to squirt her. Barking madly and chasing the two 'children' were their dogs, Ceaser and Chaos.

"Hey, Kim," Nuala called back, shrieking madly as Ciaran managed to hit her in the stomach with a stream of cold water. "Oh, I'll get you for that!" she said, pumping up her own pistol and firing it again. Ciaran laughed and disappeared around the side of the house, leaving his older, but not mature enough sisters, in the front yard alone.

Having tired from the game, Chaos padded over to the gate and scratched at it, while whining.

"Hey, Ci, I think Chaos wants to be taken for a walk!" Nuala called as she heard the phone ringing from inside the house. "Also, time out! I gotta answer the phone, it might be Mum."

"I gotta refill anyway," Ciaran said, appearing at the front door. He was completely soaked from head to toe, like someone had dunked him straight down in a swimming pool. He stripped off to his underwear before entering the house, leaving his sopping wet clothes on the porch outside. "I'm taking a shower!"

"Hurry up, we can take the dogs out before Mum and Ellis get home," Nuala said, putting the phone down again. It had been her mother on the other end, saying that she and Ellis had finished shopping and were on their way back.

"Two minutes," Ciaran called from the bathroom. Nuala heard the shower being turned on, and walked outside to collect her brother's wet clothes. She tossed them into the dryer, and then disappeared into her own room to dry off and change.

From her bedroom, Nuala could hear her brother singing in the shower, and couldn't help but roll her eyes and laugh, her brother wasn't exactly the best of singers, but she had to give him kudos for trying. In her book, singing was like dancing - not everyone could do it, but at least you had fun trying.

Once she had changed, Nuala knocked on the door of the bathroom her mother and brother shared - thankfully she and Ellis had their own bathroom adjoined to their bedroom, and Nuala knew that if it weren't for the fact that she was a single teenage mother, she wouldn't have had the privilege.

"Hurry up, hot shot, we don't have - CHAOS!" Nuala shouted, watching as the youngest of the Rottweiler's jumped the gate and belted across the road towards Billy's house. She could hear him snarling and barking followed by loud screams and heavy foot falls. Racing outside, Nuala stopped at the gate as Bulk and Skull tore past, Chaos hot on their heels. "Chaos, come back!" she shouted as loud as she could, but the dog was too far gone to hear her.

Inside the house, lured out by all the shouting, came Ciaran. He was wearing only a towel and looking nervous. "What happened?" he asked.

"Get dressed!" Nuala said, urgently. "Quickly, we have to find Chaos before he does serious damage to Bulk and Skull."

"How did he get out?"

"I don't know."

"But he -"

"Ciaran, get dressed!" Nuala snapped. "We don't have time."

Surprised by his sister's harshness, Ciaran disappeared into his room to dress, while Nuala grabbed the two leads from the hook beside the door. She attached one to Ceaser's collar, and stuffed the other into her pocket. She then dug out her rollerblades and slipped them on.

"Ci, don't forget your blades," Nuala called. "We need to be fast if we're too catch him."

Once they were ready, Nuala, Ciaran and Ceaser took off after Chaos. Ceaser running as fast as he could, while Nuala and Ciaran skated alongside him.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Lana Archer frowned as she opened the door to her home and found it to be empty. Her son and daughter, plus the two dogs were missing - which was rather a surprise considering she had just spoken with Nuala to say that she was on her way home with Ellis and the shopping bags.

"Hello, anyone home?" Lana called. She walked into the kitchen and put the bags down on the island, and then carefully set a car seat ridden Ellis down in front of the TV. She switched it on to Saturday afternoon cartoons and wandered down the hall to the bedrooms. They were empty, and there was no water running to indicate any of the bathrooms were in use.

Confused, Lana walked back to the front door, just as a scream echoed from across the road at Billy's house. She half expected Billy to come rushing out of the house - or garage, seeing as that was where the scream had originated from - and was mildly surprised to find the misfits, Bulk and Skull tumbling over one another.

Lana watched as the two boys disappeared down the street. She paused, before turning back to the house, but stopped as she heard the familiar barks of a dog. She recognized the barks as Chaos and her worry turned to relief as she saw Nuala and Ciaran skating towards her from the opposite end of the street. They both looked tired and worn, but Ceaser and Chaos looked fresh as daisies.

"Where have you been?" Lana asked, as her children arrived at the gate.

"I'll tell you in a minute," Nuala said, tiredly. She skated to the steps leading to the front door and sat down; she released Ceaser from his chain, as Ciaran did the same to Chaos. The two siblings then proceeded to remove their blade skates.

Lana waited until they had discarded their skates on the porch, trudged into the house and collapsed onto the sofa - rather Ciaran claimed the sofa, and Nuala cuddled with Ellis on one of the chairs. "Are you going to tell me now?" Lana asked, patiently waiting.

"Chaos got out," Nuala said. "He chased Bulk and Skull as far as the park, and then decided he wanted to run through the trees. Ciaran and I followed him as far as the trail, but do you have any idea how hard it is to skate through leaves? He's really pumped today, it's worse than Ciaran when he's had too much sugar."

"I resent that," Ciaran mumbled into the cushion. "But I'm too tired to care."

"Me too," Nuala said. "How was Ellis during your outing?" she asked her mother.

"He was fine. But he hasn't slept," Lana said. "Why don't you give him a bottle, see if he'll settle for a few hours?"

Nuala nodded and yawned again. "If he doesn't sleep, I will," she said, standing up. She carried her baby into the kitchen to prepare him a bottle of warm milk, and then disappeared into her bedroom with him. "How about a song, huh?" she asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed, and nestling Ellis in her arms as he sucked on his bottle. He stared at her with sleepy eyes, and Nuala smiled at the sight.

_**'Baby mine, don't you cry,**_

_**Baby mine, dry your eyes.**_

_**Rest your head close to my heart,**_

_**Never to part, baby of mine.**_

Ellis's eyes started to droop as his mother sung lightly to him. She, just like her brother couldn't sing to save her life, but that didn't mean she couldn't at least attempt to sing for her son.

_**Little one when you play,**_

_**Don't you mind what they say.**_

_**Let those eyes sparkle and shine,**_

_**Never a tear, baby of mine.**_

Nuala smiled as she stroked her baby's cheek and bridge of his nose, whilst slowly rocking him back and forth.

_**From your head to your toes,**_

_**You're so sweet, goodness knows.**_

_**You are so precious to me,**_

_**Cute as can be, baby of mine.**_

Soon, and without fail, Ellis's eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Nuala smiled as she carefully set him down on the bed beside her - her mother had always warned her about sleeping with the baby in the same bed, but sometimes she just liked to know where he was - plus she was only having a little nap, she still had homework to finish for the following morning, and with Billy working on his new project she was left to doing it alone.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

(_The Next Morning..._)

"Get up, you're both going to be late!" Lana Archer yelled from the kitchen. Normally she was a very calm woman, but when she was mad, she was furious, and when she was furious, she was downright terrifying. Unfortunately, neither of her children had ever been 'morning people," and the onset of adolescent years, not to mention the arrival of a new baby to the family, had only magnified this fault.

"I'm up, I'm up," Ciaran said, stumbling tiredly into the kitchen and pulling a sock on over his hand, rather than his foot. "What's for breakfast?"

"Your sock, if you're not careful," Lana said, snatching the object away from him and setting a plate of toast down on the island. "Eat up, quickly, and where is your sister?"

Nuala yawned as she walked into the kitchen. She was fully dressed and pulling her arms through her jacket. "Mum, Ellis is still sleeping," she said. "He should wake up within the hour though. If you don't want to take us to school, then I can drop us off."

"Are you sure you're not going to crash?" Lana asked, noting the still tired look in her daughter's face. "You look like you've been up half the night - you haven't have you?"

"No," Nuala said. "I remember falling asleep with Ellis, and then getting up to put him in his cot, but I don't remember anything after that. He must've slept right through the night because I don't remember him waking."

"And I didn't hear him," Ciaran said. "How about you, Mum?"

Lana shook her head, and handed her daughter a cup of coffee. "Here, it'll give you a boost," she said.

"Can I have one?" Ciaran asked.

"No!" both Lana and Nuala said.

Ciaran sulked and went back to eating his toast.

Spying the clock on the wall, Nuala gasped as it was nearly 9:00am. "Hurry up," she said, patting her brother on the shoulder and putting her coffee down. She snatched a Pop-Tart from the toaster, and the keys from the hook beside the door, and disappeared outside.

"Nuala, you're forgetting your backpack!" Lana called, following her out.

Ciaran groaned and dragged himself away from the island. He passed Chaos and Ceaser, petting each of them behind the ears, and grabbing his backpack from the couch. He didn't even remember getting up from there yesterday afternoon and going to bed, but he knew he must've as there was no way his mother could've carried him - not like she used too.

"Come on, hot shot, we're gonna be late!" Nuala called. Munching on her Pop-Tart, Nuala slid into the driver's seat and was already buckled in and had the car in reverse by the time her brother closed the door behind him, and pulled his seatbelt across his chest. "Ready?"

"No," Ciaran said.

Nuala chuckled and shook her head. "Hey, I could do with going back to bed too," she said. "I feel like I haven't slept at all."

"Same here," Ciaran agreed. "Can't we skip school, just this once?"

"No. I missed enough school when I was pregnant," Nuala said. "I don't plan on missing another second of it. Besides, how can I be a good Mum without a proper education, huh?"

Ciaran sighed and slouched in his seat.

"Here, finish this," Nuala said, passing him her Pop-Tart. "The sugar will boost you up."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Like, people think I've gone totally manky," Billy yelled at Kim as she followed him through the corridors of the high school. "Look at the way I've been looking -" he turned and pointed out the make-up stained face of the brunette gymnast. "My hair. My makeup. Yuck!"

"Yeah, well, I trusted you with an elementary tutorial, and you turned my transmission decoders into a synaptic nightmare!" Kim yelled, overtaking Billy in her outrage. They stopped short as Jason, Zack and Trini appeared from another corridor.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, staring at the two friends in confusion.

"I've never seen you guys arguing before," Zack added as Billy brushed past him and sat down on the bench separating two corridors.

"Billy's invention switched our brains," said Billy, confusing the others to no end. Why was he talking about himself in third person?

Jason paused and looked between his two friends. "Wait, so if you're Kimberly, then this is..." he trailed off and looked at the brunette gymnast beside him.

"Obviously somebody who can't put on makeup," Kimberly said, glaring at her body.

"Oh, wow," Nuala said, as she finally arrived. She took one look at Kim and stopped short. "What happened to you, you put your makeup on in the dark or something?"

"No," Kim answered from Billy's body.

Nuala frowned and looked at the person whom she believed to be her new best friend. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"That's Kim," Trini said, pointing at Billy.

"Say what?" Nuala asked, even more confused.

"My synaptic interlock generators malfunctioned," Kim's body said, "and I'm unable to reverse the personality displacement until I can rebuild it."

Nuala looked between her two friends, and then scratched her head. "So, wait a minute," she said, shaking her head. "You're telling me that Billy is in Kim's body, and Kim is in Billy's body?"

"Kimberly, are you in there?" Trini asked, looking directly at Billy's body.

"Afraid so," Kim replied, glaring at Billy.

"As if my day couldn't get any worse," Nuala complained. As if to taunt the already frazzled silver Ranger, the communicators beeped, and Zordon's voice boomed to life, alerting the team to a disturbance at the park.

"We're on it, Zordon," Jason said, looking directly at Nuala. The silver Ranger nodded, and followed him out to a more secluded area, before teleporting along with the others to the park.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Once at the park, the team immediately spread out in order to search for the lamp. They hadn't been looking for less than ten minutes when Zack called out to them.

"Hey, guys, over here!" He called, waving them in. "I got it. I got the lamp. What do you suppose it is?"

"Uh, a lamp?" Nuala asked, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I know that," said Zack, "but what kind of lamp?"

"By the looks of it, it's an oil lamp," Billy said, examining the golden object.

"Whatever kind it is, we need to get it back to the command centre," Jason said. "Prepare to teleport."

The others nodded and disappeared seconds later.

Once back at the command centre, Jason handed the lamp to Alpha, and the little robot run a full diagnostic scan on it. The results came back seemingly harmless.

"I don't understand, Zordon," Alpha said. "You said this was an emergency. But it's just an antique oil lamp. What's so dangerous about it?"

"What is dangerous is the genie that was once inside it," Zordon replied. "Rita has sent him to destroy the Power Rangers."

"Genie?" Nuala asked. "As in, 'grant you three wishes' genie?"

"Yes, Nuala," Zordon confirmed, just as the alarm sounded loudly throughout the command centre.

"It's the putty patrol," Alpha panicked. "Ay-yi-yi-yi!"

"Alright, let's go," Jason said, falling into formation with the others.

"Let the power the protect you," Zordon said, as the Rangers disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Fully-morphed and arriving downtown, the rangers were met with Goldar and a small army of Putty Patrollers. While his friends dealt with the foot soldiers, Jason took on Goldar, with drastic results. The golden monkey was too much of a handful, and soon Jason was on the ground.

"Jason!" Nuala shouted, drop-kicking the putties she had been fighting. With the putty patrollers disappearing, the other Rangers rushed towards their friend and leader, helping him to his feet.

Goldar growled and prowled forward, raising his sword in an attempt to strike the Rangers; but his sword went straight through them as they were unexpectedly teleported away.

When vision became clearer, Nuala noticed a jackal-like creature standing a few feet away from her. He was wearing weird clothes, and a hat. It was no doubt about the fact that this was the genie Zordon had warned them about.

Laughing fiendishly, the genie pointed at the rangers and threw several black poles at them. The poles embedded themselves into the ground, and exploded. The Rangers cried out in alarm, whilst the genie jumped into the air and fired a sticky and stringy substance that covered them from head to toe.

"What is this stuff?" Zack asked, struggling to get free.

"Better question - how do we get out?" Nuala asked.

No sooner had the question passed her lips, did she and the others arrive back at the command centre.

"As you have seen, Rangers, the genie is extremely powerful," said Zordon.

"You're right," Kim agreed. "Like major muscle."

"Nevertheless, Rangers, the power to defeat him resides inside each of you," Zordon said.

"But we couldn't get hear him," Trini pointed out.

"We never even laid a finger on him!" Jason added.

"So how are we gonna beat this guy?" Zack asked.

"But networking our maximum energy linkage," Billy answered.

"Correct," Zordon confirmed. "Believe in yourselves. Combine your powers, and the genie cannot defeat you."

With their minds made up, and a plan prepared, the Rangers returned to face the Genie.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Alright, Power Rangers," said Jason. "Let's do it."

"Yes! Ready to move and in the groove," Zack added.

"For sure, that genie's done for, OK?" Kim said.

"Magic is only magic if it's believed in," said Nuala.

"Yeah, we'll show him that his magic won't work on us," Trini said.

"Affirmative, that genie is finished," Billy added.

Lightning cracked overhead, and Rita Repulsa - in the flesh - appeared at the top of a mountain, overlooking the battleground. "In your face, Power Rangers," she screeched. "We're gonna have a lot of fun!" she blasted the team with a strand of crimson lightning, before using her staff to make her genie grow. "Destroy them!"

"Your wish is my command," the genie confirmed.

"Remember, together we can beat it," said Jason.

The genie-jackal growled and tried to squash the Rangers by standing on them, but was stopped by the roar of the Dino Zords as they arrived, trampling everything in sight in their aim to protect their respective Rangers.

The Dire Wolf and Sabre-Toothed Tiger roared as they raced ahead of the other Zords, and rammed into the genie, knocking him away from the humans that remained on the ground.

"Let's do it!" Jason said, jumping up into the Tyrannosaurus Zord, while the others followed his lead. Once all Zords were fully occupied and operational, the team combined them to form the Power Megazord.

"Whoa!" Nuala cried as the Megazord was thrown into the side of a mountain after the genie had taken it by surprise and used it colossal weight to take it off guard. Raising its staff, the genie smashed it into the face of the Megazord, and then proceeded to do it several more times.

"We have to get him off of us!" Zack protested.

"That's easier said than done!" Kim argued.

"Keep it together, guys, we've gotta beat him!" Jason interrupted, forcing the Megazord to its feet and dislodging the genie.

The jackal growled and summoned its staff to hand, it then spun it between its two hands before aiming it at the Rangers.

Taking full control of her Zord, Nuala spun the Dire sabre in a circle, and used it to deflect the incoming laser blasts. Unfortunately it seemed the lasers were just a diversion, as next second the Megazord was once again on its back, and the Jackal had the tip of his staff so close to the Megazord visor that it was almost cutting through.

"Is it me, or is that top moving?" Zack asked.

"That is definitely moving!" Trini confirmed.

"It's a drill!" Billy said, realising the trouble they were in.

"What do we do now?" Nuala asked, looking pointedly at Jason.

"Look," said Jason, suddenly. "Something's happening!"

Outside the Megazord the genie was glowing a faint white. He flickered in and out of visibility, before disappearing completely, leaving not only the Rangers confused, but Rita too.

"I've got one of those headaches again!" the Queen of Mean exclaimed, grabbing her head, and then disappearing.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"_So when we destroyed the lamp, the genie disappeared,_" Alpha explained to the team. They were sat in Billy's lab, waiting for the blue Ranger to fix the brain switching device and return him and Kimberly to normal.

"Well, you saved our butts," Zack said. "We owe you one."

"All set," Billy confirmed.

"Alright, Alpha, we gotta go," Zack said into his communicator. "Billy and Kimberly are about to make the switch. Peace out."

"_Ai-yi-yi! Tell them to be careful!_" Alpha replied.

Zack and Nuala exchanged amused grins. Alpha was like an overprotective mother.

"Are you sure this will work?" Kimberly asked from her place in Billy's machine.

"Uh, in science, nothing is certain," Billy replied. Kim rolled her eyes, as the others were torn between looking amused and nervous. "Will you pull the switch?"

Kim hesitated, and then pulled the lever down. There was a small bang, and electricity raged through the many exposed wires. Once everything had calmed down, the blue and pink rangers stepped out of the machine and turned to face it each other.

"So, did it work?" Jason asked, expectantly.

"I appear to have regained control over my snapped neurons," Billy replied.

"Yeah, and I'm me too," Kim laughed, looking herself over happily.

Trini and Nuala grinned and each moved forward to hug their best friends. Billy, taken by total surprise, hesitated and unsurely wrapped his arms around Nuala. When the silver Ranger pulled away, Billy felt his breath catch at how close she was.

"I'm just glad you're back to being normal," Nuala said, and untangled herself from his hold.

"Yeah, me too," Billy agreed, as the side door opened and Bulk and Skull stumbled inside.

"Please, guys," said Skull.

"Yeah, please, guys," Bulk repeated.

"We want to go back to normal," Skull said.

"Yeah, normal," Bulk repeated.

Nuala frowned and looked between the two. It was almost as if Bulk was in Skull's body, and Skull was in Bulk's body.

"Have you guys been playing with my machine?" Billy asked.

Bulk and Skull hesitated, and then nodded. It was the only possible explanation for the weird turn of events.

"Should I?" Billy asked, looking to his friends for the answer.

"Maybe it'll teach them a lesson," Nuala said.

"Yeah, like how not to mess with other people's property," Trini agreed.

Skull - who was really Bulk - glowered at the two girls'.

"I think they learned that lesson," Zack said, coming to the rescue.

Skull nodded.

"All right," Billy caved. "Step on up."

Nuala sighed and stepped back as Bulk and Skull prepared themselves for the return to normality.

"Are we back to normal?" Bulk asked, looking to his best friend unsurely.

"Yeah, normal?" Skull repeated.

"You sure sound it," Trini said. Nuala nodded in agreement.

Skull laughed, and then motioned for Billy to follow him. The blue Ranger did so, unsure of the wannabe bully's actions. "Suppose I can borrow your brain for my math test on Monday?" he asked.

Billy rolled his eyes, while the others shook their heads.

"Clearly some lessons are harder to learn," Nuala said, as Billy looked at Skull in disbelief and the other Rangers burst into laughter.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**The song Nuala sang to Ellis is "Baby Mine" from Dumbo. It is one of the Disney films that Nuala grew up watching.**_

_**See you Sunday.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated ****Friday, May 30, 2014 at 6:52pm**


	8. Never Give Up

**Author's Note:** Another fun chapter to write - also we see a bit of both Nuala and Ciaran's past. I hope you enjoy it.

**Dedications:** N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"I hope this is going to work," said thirteen-year-old Willy. He was Billy's new young and bright protégé.

"Oh, come on," Billy replied, patting his shoulder. "You gotta have faith. Just relax, all right?"

"OK," Willy said, turning to the rest of Billy's friends that had come out to help him test his new invention.

"All right, let's go," Billy said. "Goggles on, everyone."

Nuala smiled and handed a pair of goggles to Kim, and then slid her own pair onto the bridge of her nose.

"Cool. This is morphenomenal," Trini grinned, nudging Kim.

"OK, here goes," Willy said, flipping the switch and activating the game.

"WHOA!" the six rangers and Willy shouted as a holographic image of a roller-coaster flickered to life before their eyes.

"This is unbelievable!" Jason yelled. "Whoa!"

"Oh, get me off this thing!" Kim cried, and Nuala could feel her trembling.

"Hold on!" Jason yelled again, leaning back as if he was going up a sharp incline and then falling forward as the holographic car zoomed down the others ode.

"Yeah!" Zack cheered, excitedly and loudly.

"I'm getting dizzy! Stop the game!" Kim yelled, reaching to remove her glasses.

"Ending interactive sequence," Willy said, shutting the game down, much to the disappointment of the others who had been enjoying themselves.

"Willy, you invented this game?" Jason asked the young boy.

"Yeah! I'm entering it in the junior science fair," Willy answered, checking his wrist watch. "Speaking of which..."

"Right! We don't wanna be late for the competition," Billy said.

Nuala smiled and reached forward onto the table to unplug the device, as Kim passed behind her looking a little more pink than green. Concerned for her friend, Nuala looked over at Trini, and the yellow Ranger nodded as she followed Kim outside.

"And... we're all set," said Billy, as he closed the container and lifted it down into Willy's arms. "Let's go."

Willy grinned and headed out of the lab with Billy, Jason, Zack and Nuala following behind.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"I've never been much of a dog person," Kim said, eyeing the two Rottweiler's with a look of distrust. Ceaser and Chaos had jumped the Archer gate after they had seen Nuala coming out of Billy's garage, and belted across the road to their mistress, they had looked like two little puppies jumping up at her, barking and practically begging to be taken out.

"Aw, they're harmless," Nuala said, as the two dogs walked either side of her. In both her hands she held chain leads, and had wrapped them twice around her hands in order to maintain full control over the dogs. "The only thing you really have to worry about with Rottweiler's is who the leader is. It's important for them to know that they aren't in charge."

"Seriously?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. If they thought _they_ were the pack leaders, I would've had to give them up years ago," Nuala said. "Do you know hard it is to train a Rottweiler?"

"Why did you get a Rottweiler if you knew of the difficulties?" Trini asked.

"Because I wanted a guard dog," Nuala replied. "Bulldogs and Mastiff's scare the hell out of me."

"So Ceaser and Chaos were trained around young children?" Trini asked. She knew quite well of the temperament of a Rottweiler, and had heard of one actually attacking a child of Ellis's age.

Nuala nodded. "Yeah, but even though I trust both Ceaser and Chaos, I never leave them alone with Ellis," she explained. "He's never on the floor with them patrolling, not unless I'm sitting near him. I mean, they are still dogs, and there still is a hunter in them."

"How long have you had them?" Kim asked.

"Six years," Nuala answered. "They're brothers, and we adopted them at the same time. It was either that or they were going to be put down."

"So you were... eleven?" Trini asked, quickly doing the math in her head.

"Yeah, and Ciaran was eight," Nuala confirmed. "My dad was a very firm hand when it came to training them, and he taught me and my brother how to be firm handed too."

"Where is your dad?" Kim asked.

"He died a year later," Nuala answered. "Lung cancer."

Kim and Trini fell silent, and looked apologetic as they apologized for bringing up. Nuala smiled and brushed them off. Her father's death had hit her hard, but she had managed to let him go and move on in life, as she knew that he would never have wanted her to hold onto him and refuse to live just because he wasn't there anymore.

Suddenly Chaos and Ceaser stopped short, their chains tugging in Nuala's hand as she continued on without noticing

"Chaos, Ceaser, come!" Nuala said, looking back at the two dogs. They were glaring behind her, their teeth bared and snappish snarls rumbled in the backs of their throats. Nervously, Kim grew closer to Zack and Jason. "Don't show them you're afraid," Nuala warned the pink Ranger.

Chaos snarled and snapped his jaws together. Nuala felt her heart slam against her chest, but she knew that Chaos wouldn't attack her. Just then, dropping out of the sky like flies was the putty patrollers. Ceaser and Chaos stepped forward protectively, still baring their teeth.

"Oh this is going to be interesting," Nuala said as a putty jumped straight at her.

Chaos snarled and pushed himself up onto his strong hind legs, and slammed his front paws into the putty patroller. It landed on the grass with a thump and Chaos charged forward, clamping his jaws down on the puttie causing it to wail in agony.

"Chaos, release!" Nuala shouted.

Another puttie gurgled and run towards Nuala, causing Ceaser to react. The two dogs tugged hard against their chains, but Nuala held firm. She knew the consequences of releasing both dogs when they were like this, plus she was still the pack leader and she hadn't given them an order to attack.

"Willy, come here," Nuala called to Billy's protégé. "They won't hurt you," she added, seeing the weary glance Willy shot the dogs. "They're just trying to protect us."

Looking at Billy, Willy made his way to Nuala's side as the others branched off to fight the rest of the patrollers, and Chaos and Ceaser circled Nuala and Willy protectively.

"Desperate time's calls for desperate measures - Guys, fall back!" Nuala called to her friends as she unleashed the chains from her dog's collars. The two dogs shot off at top speed, charging and colliding with the Putties and snapping at them with their jaws.

Finally, after seeing the shredded claw marks on the putties arms and chest, Nuala whistled loudly and both Rottweiler's returned to her side. "Sit!" she warned them, kneeling down and reconnecting their leads to their collars. "Good boys," she added in praise, rubbing their tummies and behind their ears.

"You OK, Willy?" Billy asked his young friend.

"Yeah. That was a close call," Willy said, checking his machine. He was grateful to the others, especially Nuala and her dogs, for his protection.

"Come on. Let's get to the science fair," Billy said. He grabbed Willy's box, and led the way across the park to the Youth Centre. Chaos and Ceaser still padding along either side of Nuala like nothing had even happened.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After the movie, Ciaran had stopped by the junior science fair to check in with Nuala, but was surprised to find that she wasn't there. She had said she would be attending with Billy and the others, and some kind named Willy.

"Hey, Ci, a few of us are heading over to the juice bar, you coming?" Matthew asked, walking past his friend and heading out of the science fair.

"Yeah," Ciaran said, following backwards. He jumped as a pair of arms wrapped around him, and stumbled forward. "Hey - what's the big -?" he cut off as he saw it was Nuala, grinning madly at him. "Oh, you frightened the life out of me!" he said.

Nuala smiled, smugly. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Looking for you," Ciaran said.

"Well, here I am," Nuala said. "What are you doing now? You want to stay?"

"Can I?"

"Sure, why not?" Nuala smiled. "Tell your friends. I'll be over here..." she pointed to where Billy and Willy were setting up Willy's invention.

Ciaran nodded, and hurried off to let Matthew and the others knew that he was staying with his sister. When he returned he found Nuala stationed alongside Billy at the table at the back of the room.

"The quazitronic circuitry's acting up again," said a kid, who Ciaran assumed to be Willy,

"Even I didn't understand that one," Nuala said, looking confused.

"The visual imagery is fading," Ciaran answered.

Nuala opened her mouth, paused when she realized the reply hadn't come from Billy, and then turned to face her brother. "OK, boy genius," she teased. "How about we let Billy help Willy set up, and we'll go find the others?"

"OK," Ciaran said, following his sister away from the table. They passed an invention that looked like an automatic changing room, something that Kim and Trini had taken an interest in. The pink and yellow Rangers smiled and greeted both siblings as they approached, and only looked up when the familiar docile tones of Bulk and Skull caught their attention.

They were harassing a kid that Ciaran recognized as Dylan.

"That's Dylan," he told his sister. "He's in my class."

"What's his project?" Zack asked.

"I dunno," Ciaran shrugged. "He's very top secret about it."

"Looks like we're about to find out," Jason said as Skull took the modified spray gun from Dylan, and aimed it at Bulk. He pulled the plunger and suddenly Bulk's jeans disappeared.

Laughter rang supreme throughout the room.

"Put it down, Skull," Billy said, walking over with Willy.

"Ah! Well, if it isn't the King Geek himself," Bulk retaliated.

"Don't you feel a little out of place here?" Billy asked, not bothered by their childish retorts. He was used to being called a geek. "After all, an IQ is required.

"This is all the IQ I need," Bulk said, scrunching his hand into a fist;

"I thought this was a science fair?" Ciaran asked, wandering over to stand beside Willy. "Not a caveman intervention."

"Ciaran!" Nuala hissed.

"Kid's got a point," Jason agreed, walking over with Zack. "All Bulk needs is a club, and he'd make the perfect caveman."

Nuala groaned and covered her face with her hand. "Please don't encourage him, guys," she told her friends.

Zack grunted, in what was supposed to mimic a caveman's language, and Bulk saw red. He glowered at the two rangers. "You... are dust," he threatened, storming forward.

Both Jason and Zack ducked, avoiding any punches from Bulk and Skull. Straightening up, Zack smirked at Skull as he spun around and came face-to-face with the black Ranger, he aimed a punch at Zack's head, but Zack grabbed his fist and pulled back and forth with him.

"Havin' fun, Skull? Heh? Heh?" Zack taunted.

Pulling back his wrist, Skull stumbled backwards as Zack let go of his fist, and he fell over into a recycling bin. Meanwhile, Jason stepped aside as Bulk stormed towards him, and ended up lying flat on his back in a pile of boxes as Billy flipped him over the table.

"Now you've got me really ticked!" Skull said, jumping back to his feet. He jumped at Billy who ducked, and Skull landed in the boxes next to Bulk.

"Come on," said Billy, turning the cart the two bullies had landed on around. "Let's wheel these bozos out of here."

"I think she needs a couple of volunteers, just to show us how it works," Trini said, pointing at the blonde beside her.

Kim grinned and waved across the room to Billy. "Hey, you guys! Over here! We've got just the thing."

Bulk and Skull cried out as they slid into the changing box, and the door closed on them.

"Transformation time," Trini laughed, patting the doors.

"Two fashion make overs, coming up!" Kim agreed.

At the top of the box, glitter and clothes flew in all directions as Bulk and Skull could be heard screaming from the inside.

"Oh, yeah! You gotta teach them a lesson," Zack said, fist-bumping Ciaran. "Mm-hmm."

"Here they come," Kim said, excitedly.

The doors opened and Bulk and Skull stepped out wearing women's clothing, while Bulk supported a long blonde wig, and Skull a cropped black hairstyle. Once again, laughter rung throughout the room whilst the bullies screamed at their garments.

Drawn in by all the shouting and laughing, the judge of the science fair approached, causing Willy's amused smile to falter. "What's going on here, Willy?" the judge asked, disapprovement oozing from his tone of voice. "This isn't a playground. Your thoughtless antics could wreak havoc on the other competitors' inventions. You're disqualified."

"What?!" Willy gasped.

"You can't disqualify him," Nuala said, wrapping her arms around Willy. "It wasn't his fault."

"My decision is final!" the judge said, before walking away.

Willy sighed in disappointment and lowered his head. "I don't believe this," he said, looking up at the Rangers. "I can't seem to do anything right."

"Hey, Willy, wait!" Nuala called as the distraught teenager took off. "Ciaran!" she added as her brother took off after him.

"I know just how he feels," Billy said looking to his friends. "I'm gonna go after him, OK?"

"I'm coming with you, man," Zack said.

"Count me in," Jason added.

"Me too," Nuala said. "I have to find Ciaran."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Having left the Youth Centre after Willy, Ciaran followed him down to the lake at the park. He had been here a few times with Nuala whilst walking the dogs, and a few other times with the guys from school. He found Willy sitting on a rock near the edge of the lake, splashing water on the surface.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's dangerous to sit so close to the edge?" Ciaran asked, taking Willy by surprise. "You could fall in and hurt yourself, and with no one out here with you, you may drown."

Willy frowned, but moved back for the sake of arguments. "Why did you follow me?" he asked.

"Because you looked like you needed a friend."

"But we're not friends," said Willy.

"Doesn't mean we can't be, does it?" Ciaran asked. "I'm always looking for new friends."

Willy shrugged and looked out across the lake. "Why would you want to be friends with me? I'm worthless."

"I don't think you are," Ciaran said. "That judge was being unfair. You didn't start the fight - Bulk and Skull did. Look, I've never been one for science, but I found it cool how it could be used as a weapon against someone, and no one was severely hurt, except maybe Bulk and Skull's egos."

Willy chuckled, and looked to see Ciaran was now sitting next to him. "I worked hard on that project," he said, "and now no one is going to see it. It was my best invention too!"

"I wouldn't give up so early, Willy," Ciaran said.

"Why shouldn't I?" Willy asked, looking away.

"Because I know how you feel."

"Has anything you ever invented been disqualified before?"

"Well, no," said Ciaran, "Like I said, science has never been something for me."

"Then you don't know how I feel!"

Ciaran sighed and looked out across the lake. "Two years ago, my sister was due to ride in one of the biggest races of her life; she'd never entered for a horse race before, but she was doing it in sponsor of Cancer awareness - because our father had died from Lung Cancer a few years previous - anyway, she got seriously hurt during training, and everyone was counting on her to race, but she couldn't."

"So, what happened?" Willy asked. "Did she get disqualified?"

"Actually, yeah, we did," Ciaran said. "But not because of her - but because of me."

"You?"

Ciaran nodded. "I was only twelve at the time," he said. "I could tell this race meant everything to Nuala, and we'd raced together a few times before, I knew she was a good enough rider, and she could've won the derby if she had wanted too. But she was too hurt to even walk, much less ride - I decided to take her place, despite being underage. I came in second in the race, but was caught out when I went to claim my winnings. The judges thought that Nuala had staged the whole event so that she could claim the prize, they disqualified for her cheating. I tried to explain that it was my idea but they didn't believe me, I was just a kid so why would they?"

"How does this help me?" Willy asked, failing to see the point in Ciaran's story.

"I'm getting too it," Ciaran said. "Anyway, when we got home, I thought Nuala was going to be mad at me but she wasn't, she was actually quite proud. She praised me on my riding that day, and even though she had been disqualified and her prize had gone to someone else, she didn't care. The point of my story is that the following year, Nuala was back on her horse and entering in another derby run, and guess what?"

"What?"

"She won first place - no one remembered what had happened the year previous," Ciaran said with a smile. "They were only proud that she had gotten back on her horse, and had done something that she really wanted too, and that's what you have to do. You have to keep on going, Willy, and never give up. You can't let this one bump in the road stop you from doing what you want. You were disqualified this year, but there is always next year, and you never know, you may create something that is even better than this year. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it another try?"

Willy looked considerate and thoughtful; he then took Ciaran's hand and stood up. "Yeah," he said. "Let's do it!"

"You're not doing anything!"

Ciaran and Willy jumped and spun around to find a floating eyeball blocking their path.

"Nothing, but coming with me!" the eyeball laughed.

"Who are you?" Willy asked. "What do you want with me?"

"Your genius will be appreciated where I'm taking you!" the eyeball replied

A blue beam shot out and wrapped itself around Willy. Instinctively Ciaran grabbed onto his new friend and was pulled into the monster's iris.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Willy?!"

"Willy?! Where are you?!"

"Can you hear us?!"

Nuala looked around as she tightened the grip around the cool chains of her dog's leads. She had let them off the leash as soon as she, Billy, Zack and Jason had reached the park, even though the dogs weren't known for their keen sense of smell; she knew that Chaos and Ceaser would do anything to find Ciaran.

"Do you guys see anything?" Billy asked, turning around to face Zack and Jason. The black and red Rangers were trailing behind, while Nuala was further ahead.

"Willy?!" Jason shouted, a clear indication that he hadn't found the child yet.

"Willy, where are you?!"

"Willy?!"

"Can you hear us?!"

"Willy, where are you?"

Looking up, Nuala heard the sound of dogs barking in the distance, and turned to the others over her shoulder. They had all stopped in their tracks and were looking in the same direction as she.

"Is that -?" Jason trailed off, looking at the silver ranger.

"Chaos!" Nuala shouted, taking off at a run. "Ceaser, they must've found something."

Streaking down the trail, Nuala turned a sharp corner and nearly toppled over into the lake and would have had Kim and Trini not turned their own corner and collided with her at the same time. All three girls groaned and hit the ground, just as the three boys reached them.

"What happened?" Trini asked.

"Did you find Willy?" Kim asked.

"No," Billy said.

"But they did," said Zack, pointing at Ceaser and Chaos, both of whom were guarding a blue hat near the lake.

"That's Willy's lucky cap," Billy said. He reached down to pick it up, but Chaos snapped at him.

"Heal, Chaos," Nuala snapped. The dog whined and withdrew, allowing Billy to pick up the hat, and turn it over in his hands.

"Something must've happened," Billy said.

"Aw man, this could be serious," Zack said, looking around for any sign of Willy.

"If by serious you mean Rita," Nuala added. "I second that."

"And if Ciaran went after Willy..." Trini said, trailing off and looking at Nuala, the young mother tensed and glared at the floor.

"That means Rita has both of them," Kim confirmed.

"What would she want with two young boys?" Jason asked as Chaos and Ceaser whined it was obvious that they could sense something was wrong. Chaos stood up and nudged Nuala's hand, dragging his head underneath her palm, wanting to be petted.

Kneeling down, Nuala wrapped her arms around the dog's neck and hugged him. "I'll find Ciaran, Chaos," she said. "I promise."

"And Willy, too," Billy added.

"Maybe Zordon knows something," Kim suggested.

Jason nodded. "Prepare to teleport," he instructed the others.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Zordon, what do you know about Willy and Ciaran's disappearance?" Billy asked as soon as he and the others were stable inside the command centre.

"Your suspicions are correct," Zordon replied. "Rita is responsible. Behold the viewing globe." The team turned to face the glowing sphere on the pedestal behind them. "The boys are being held prisoners within the internal vortex - a world located inside eyeguy's main eye. Rita wishes to gain control of Willy's powerful mind."

"If it was Willy she was after," said Kim, "why did she take Ciaran?"

"Because he was in the right place at the wrong time," Nuala answered, watching as her brother was sucked inside the minute he tried to stop eyeguy from taking Willy.

"How do we free them?" Billy asked.

"Eyeguy's main eye must be destroyed," Zordon answered. "Only then will Willy and Ciaran be released and the creature stopped."

Nuala looked back at the viewing globe to see her brother was strapped to a spindle, and was rolling around in all directions. "We gotta save them!" she said, looking to Jason.

"Then let's move," Kim said, catching the silver Ranger's hand and squeezing it.

"It's morphin' time," Jason nodded.

"Wait, what about these two?" Nuala asked, pointing at the two dogs at her feet.

"Can't you leave them here?" Zack asked.

"You want to leave two Rottweiler's at the command centre with Alpha and Zordon?" Nuala asked.

"Maybe... not?"

Nuala shot him an exasperated look, and then looked down at the two dogs. She couldn't take them out to battle while she was morphed; if anyone saw them then it was an easy link back to her.

"So, what do we do?" Kim asked.

"You guys go ahead," Nuala said. "I'm going to take these two home, and I'll meet you out there."

Jason hesitated, but nodded. It was the only way.

"OK. Be careful," Jason warned.

"Likewise," Nuala said, disappearing in a column of silver.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"_Nuala, Billy is in need of your assistance!_" Zordon said over the communicator. "_He has located Eyeguy's main eye at the park. Teleport there now to aid him._"

"I'm all over it, Zordon," Nuala said, reaching for her power morpher. "Dire Wolf!" she commanded, morphing into action and teleporting to the park. She looked around and spotted Billy near the wooded area, she climbed the small incline and grabbed onto the trunk to steady herself. "Hey."

Billy smiled and looked back at her. "Glad you could make it," he said.

"Yeah, me too," Nuala said. "Got any idea on how to get Ciaran and Willy out?"

"If you draw its fire," Billy said. "I can get in behind it and destroy it."

Nuala considered the plan. It sounded a little dangerous, but she was willing to draw fire if it meant saving her brother. "Just don't miss," she pleaded.

"I don't intend too," Billy promised.

Nuala nodded and darted out of the trees. She crossed the line of sight of the floating eyeball, and groaned as several eyeball shaped lasers hit her in the chest. She grunted and hit the floor, curling into a ball as the lasers started to sting.

"Nuala!" Billy shouted, jumping out in front of his friend. He summoned his power lance to hand, and turned to the floating eyeball. "You've had it!" he said, lunging for the eyeball and stabbing it through the iris with the sharp point of his sword.

The floating eyeball exploded, releasing both Ciaran and Willy back into the park.

"We're back!" Willy said, looking around in amazement. "But how?"

"That's how," said Ciaran, pointing out the Rangers as they hurried over to the two kids. Willy gasped in surprised and looked around at each Ranger in turn, as they grew nearer.

Resisting the urge to demorph and hug her brother, Nuala put her gloved hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "Are you kids OK?" she asked.

"Wow, the Power Rangers!" Willy exclaimed.

"That's right!" Kim confirmed.

"I guess we've had a pretty good day," Trini said, brushing white flakes off of Willy's shoulders.

"I'll say," Ciaran said, looking around at the team and then at Willy. "So, what do you say, Willy? You still ready for another try?"

Willy grinned and nodded. "Yeah, and like you said, there's always next year!" he laughed, and Ciaran grinned bumping fists with him.

Nuala sighed in relief, folded her arms across her stomach and leaned back against Billy as he stood behind her.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After the battle, the Rangers returned to the command centre, while Willy and Ciaran headed back to the Youth Centre. They were chatting animatedly about past failures and how they had grown and learned from their mistakes. Ciaran was in the middle of telling Willy about an incident involving him, Nuala and a red deer when the girl in question arrived, pushing Ellis in his pram.

"I still can't believe the Power Rangers actually saved our lives," Willy said, excitedly.

"Yeah, aren't they the greatest?" Billy asked, as his friends exchanged amused glances behind Willy's back.

"Oh, here, I found this," Billy said, taking Willy's cap from his pocket.

"Hey! My lucky cap!" Willy exclaimed excitedly.

"Actually, Chaos and Ceaser found it," Nuala said, scrunching her nose up at Billy.

"Well, I nearly lost an arm trying to pick it up," Billy defended.

Nuala smirked, and shook her head teasingly. "No way," she said. "My babies would never take someone's arm off, not unless I wanted them too. You were perfectly safe!"

"Yeah, of course," Billy said. "Safe from the dogs with a scissor-like bite."

Nuala was interrupted from retorting by the sound of Ernie shouting "Whooooaa!" from the corner of the room, turning around the Rangers, Willy and Ciaran saw both Ernie and the science fair judge with glasses on, experiencing Willy's holographic game.

"Willy! Am I glad to see you," the judge said as the game ended, and he removed his glasses.

"You are?" Willy asked.

"I owe you an apology, Willy," the Judge said. "It seems I overreacted to something that wasn't your fault."

"Thank you, sir; I hope you'll allow my invention to be included in the competition."

"Of course, Willy, in fact, I've given your invention first prize." The judge withdrew a blue ribbon from inside his jacket, and pinned it to the front of Willy's clothes. "Congratulations."

"Wow, is this for real?" Willy asked.

"That's great, man!" Zack said patting Willy's ribbon as the others congratulated him.

Ciaran grinned and bumped fists again with his new friend. "See," he said. "Wasn't it worth trying again?"

"Yeah," Willy said. "That's for helping me realise that giving up wasn't an option, Ci."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Ciaran asked, draping his arm around Willy's shoulder and squeezing him.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated ****Sunday, 01 June 2014 at 4:10pm**


	9. Surprise!

**Author's Note:** This update is a little early than usual, but I have my nephew all day and doubt I will have much time later. I hope you enjoy it.

**Dedications:** N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Ciaran looked up from the late night homework he was doing, and turned his head to the cake-o-matic beside him. The machine was something that Billy had built - the idea was for it to bake a cake and create a smoothie at the same time.

"Uh, Ernie," Ciaran called, waving at the barman and pointing at the machine. "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

"I don't think so," Ernie said walking out from behind the bar, He stared in at the cake mixture and then turned to flag down Billy, but the blue Ranger was having too much fun dancing to the tape mix that Kim and Nuala had put together.

"You're right, girls," Billy shouted over the blare of the music. "The performers assembled to create this harmonious tune transcend all predecessors to this genre of music."

Kim frowned and turned to Nuala and Trini, they were the only two who seemed to understand Billy-speech. "Translation, please." she said, blowing more air into the purple balloon in her hands.

"He likes the music," Trini answered, returning to her painting as Nuala tossed treats at Chaos and Ceaser. She had promised her mother that she'd keep an eye on the two dogs and Ciaran, if she babysat Ellis until they came home.

"Oh," Kim giggled as Ernie called out from the bar. Nuala and Trini looked around to find the barman elbow deep in foamy blue mixture.

"Billy," Nuala called, tossing a treat at the blue Ranger as he danced near-by. She warned Chaos and Ceaser to stay, seeing as both of them looked ready to pounce at the fallen treat, and then smiled sweetly at Billy as he removed his headphones. "We're glad you like the group, but I think Ernie's having a problem.

"Uh-oh!" Billy said, watching Ernie slip onto the floor and Ciaran move away, a fearful look on his face, .He rushed forward and turned off the machine. "I guess I still got to work the kinks out of this thing," he said sheepishly as Ernie looked less than impressed.

"I hate machines," Ernie sighed, sliding further onto the floor as more foamy blue mixture flopped down onto his head, and slid down to cover his face.

Ciaran bit his lip to smother his laughter, as Nuala exchanged a half-amused look with Trini and Kim.

"What do you think?" Trini asked, tracing a yellow paintbrush down her birthday banner.

"Heh, it looks alright," Kim shrugged, teasingly.

"Kimberly, get back to work," Trini said.

Kim giggled and pushed herself up onto the bar, crossing her legs as she turned to face Ernie and Billy - the latter was fixing the cake-o-matic machine after Nuala had helped Ernie clean up the foamy messy. "How's it going, Billy?" she asked, brushing her hair over her shoulder.

"I fail to ascertain why this appliance isn't working," Billy replied. "I mean, the molecular mix re-arranger's still intact."

"Problems?" Jason asked, arriving with twin tins of paint.

"The cake-o-matic that Billy built for Zack's surprise party went on the warpath," Ernie answered. He was standing behind the bar wearing a towel, after using the shower to wash off the foam. "Nearly drowned me in cake mix!"

"_Nearly_, Ernie," Nuala said, leaning on the counter between Billy and Ciaran, the latter was still doing home. "Nearly drowned you."

"Listen, Ernie, I wanted to thank you for keeping the place open late tonight, so we could decorate for Zack's birthday party," Jason said,

"Boy is he going to be surprised, and speaking of surprises!" Ernie said, brandishing a cup at the teens. "You guys will never guess what I found out about the Power Rangers."

Silence fell amongst the teens, and Ciaran looked up from his homework to stare at the barman.

"The, uh, Power who?" Billy asked, feigning confusion.

"You know the superheroes with the large Dinozord?" Ernie asked.

"The ones with the coloured costumes?" Jason asked, playing along.

"That's them!" Ernie grinned. "You know, they'll do for Angel Grove what Batman has done for Gotham City."

"Really?" Nuala asked. "You're going to compare the Power Rangers to a graphic novel character, not to mention a weak one."

"Weak?" Ernie replied, aghast. "I take it you're not a batman fan?"

"I'm more of a Spiderman kinda girl," Nuala said, rolling her head to the side.

Jason shook his head at the red-head, and turned his attention back to Ernie. "I think I've seen the Power Rangers in TV," he said. "What have you heard?"

"I've heard they're regular humans, just like you and me!" Ernie said.

"Really?" Ciaran asked. "Well, you know, I heard they were space aliens from a distant planet."

"You're a space alien from a distant planet," Nuala replied, teasingly.

"Hey!" Ciaran whined. "But yeah, space aliens, and the silver Ranger is supposed to be the worst one. I wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley."

"Something tells me you wouldn't want to meet her in a well-lit alley," Nuala replied, glaring scornfully at her brother.

"But, to be on the safe side, Ernie, we should keep this space alien stuff under our hats," Ciaran said quickly, avoiding his sister's glare.

Ernie nodded. "Aliens... whoa, this is big," he mumbled, obviously shell-shocked. He pushed away from the counter and disappeared out to the back of the store, leaving the Rangers to stare at Ciaran.

"What?" Ciaran asked, looking up from his homework.

"Aliens?" Nuala asked. "That's the best you could've come up with? Do you have any idea of the mass panic you'd cause if people actually believed that, Ci?"

"It was a joke!" Ciaran huffed.

"We know," Nuala said, "and, I'll admit, it was a good one... but it was also a believable one. We _fight _the aliens, remember?"

"Fine, I'm sorry," Ciaran said, going back to his homework.

Nuala shook her head and hugged him tightly, causing him to laugh and scrunch his eyes closed as he drew himself closer to her.

The other Rangers smiled and exchanged looks, as Bulk and Skull entered the juice bar from the side entrance. "Well, well, well," said Bulk, dragging Skull in by his nose. "If it isn't the nerd patrol from Angel Grove High."

"This place is closed, fellas," Billy said.

"Yeah, to nerds like you," Bulk replied. He grabbed Billy by the forearms and lifted him up onto the counter. He then grinned a Nuala, "Hey babe, how about we -?"

"Still not interested," Nuala interrupted.

"Hey, Bulky, look at what we have here -" said Skull, showing off Trini's banner. "Whoa! Oops!" he mocked as the yellow Ranger tried to grab it from him, but he pulled it out of her reach. "A birthday party. Awwwww."

"We would've invited you," Kim spat from the bar. "But animals aren't allowed."

"Whoa, easy, Kim, that's an insult to animals," Nuala said.

Bulk sneered at them both, and then blew his nose in Trini's banner. "Party's over, kids!" he said, as Skull laughed.

"Hey! I worked a long time on that!" Trini yelled, reaching for the banner again.

"Hey, I'll tell you what, babe," Skull said, grabbing Trini by the hands and walking backwards towards the back room. "What do you say I help you paint another one, after we're done having a little... fun?"

Trini fake a sweet smile, and shoved him backwards into the door. It opened and he crashed onto the floor, staring up at the growling jaws of both Chaos and Ceaser. He screamed and scrambled out of the room, as both dogs followed him, thankfully for him they had been chained up and could only go as far as their chains allowed.

"Bulky, it's that dog!" Skull said, pointing at Chaos. The dog in question snapped at Skull's hand, whilst the muscles beneath his black coat rippled as he strained to get at the fallen bully. "When did Ernie start keeping Dobermans?"

"They're Rottweiler's idiot," Nuala scoffed.

Bulk mimicked her in a high-pitched and squeaky voice, as he trudged towards her. Panicked, and reminded of a past experience with Ellis's father, Nuala run behind the bar to avoid him. She cursed herself on her choice as Skull joined Bulk in his game of tormenting, and blocked off her only available exit.

"Here, kitty-kitty," Skull taunted, laughing hysterically.

"OK, guys you've had your fun, now knock it off," Ciaran said, sensing the panic rising in his sister. He knew from personal experience that she hated being backed into a corner.

Bulk laughed and lunged at Nuala, at the same time as Skull did. With a terrified scream, Nuala flipped over the bar and stumbled into Jason, her breathing was labored as if coming out of a panic attack.

"Are you OK?" Jason asked.

"I hate being backed into a corner."

Groaning at the head-on collision due to Nuala's disappearance. Bulk and Skull stood up, each holding their heads and looking around their missing victim. They growled and pointed at her, they each darted out from behind the bar, and rushed at Nuala and Jason, colliding with the pole on either side of the steps and groaned again.

Billy chuckled at Skull, only to end up on the receiving end of the bully's temper tantrum. Thankfully smarter than Skull, Billy ducked to the side and opened the door to the cake-o-matic, resulting in Skull running face first into the foamy cake mixture inside the machine.

"I hate party crashers," Kim grumbled to Trini, as the latter laughed openly at Skull.

Grunting and groaning, Bulk lifted himself from the floor, and rounded once again onto Jason and Nuala - the former was doing all that he could to support the latter until she had calmed down. "This isn't over, Archer," he warned.

"It is now," Ciaran said, holding Chaos's chain tightly in his hand. The dog snarled and snapped at Bulk, causing him to jump away in a panic. "You caused my sister to relapse; _no one_ causes my sister to relapse! Either leave now, or I will let him go!"

"Pfft!" Bulk said, trying to act and look tough.

Ciaran stumbled forward as Chaos lunged at Bulk - the bully screamed and ran for the door, as Skull followed him, but Ciaran maintained a firm grip on Chaos's lead and then called for him to heal. The dog obeyed immediately.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

At least an hour after Bulk and Skull had run off, screaming, and with the help of Billy and Ciaran, Nuala had calmed down enough to help Kim hang the balloons over the Youth Centre.

"Her proficiency with complex illustrated characterizations is quite impressive, isn't it?" Billy asked Jason, before walking over to help Nuala with her balloons.

"What did he say?" Jason asked, looking over at Kim.

"Don't look at me," Kim replied. "I don't speak Billy."

"He said I draw a good cartoon," Trini replied, before adding, "Thanks, Billy," over her shoulder.

"So we've got all the balloons blown up, the banners are made," Kim listed, as Jason fixed a pink party hat on top of his head, "What else is there left to do?"

"I think we're about done," Jason said, removing the hat.

"All we have left to accomplish now is just to make sure that Zack doesn't find out about the planned festivities prematurely," Billy said.

"Hey, you guys, I just saw Zack pass by my office window!" Ernie shouted, rushing back into the room. "I think he's headed this way!"

"Oh god!" Kim said, turning sharply and starting to pull down all the balloons she and Nuala had set up.

"Ciaran!" Nuala yelled. "Get out here and help!"

Ciaran rushed into the main room. "What's going on?" he asked, panicking.

"Zack's on his way inside," Nuala said. "Here, hide these out back - do not let Chaos and Ceaser at them," she added, stuffing a box of balloons at her brother.

"Got it," Ciaran said, sliding the box into the back room and closing the door. Chaos and Ceaser started to bark behind the closed door, but soon fell silent.

Trini shoved the banner she had been painting off of the bar, allowing it to flutter down onto the floor. Once everything was cleared away, and out of sight, the team rearranged the chairs and stools to make it look like no one had been using them - Jason and Billy hid the cake-o-matic, and then ducked behind the bar with Kim, Trini and Nuala as Zack walked inside.

"Hey, Ernie, what's with the late hours?" Zack asked, approaching the bar.

"Just catching up on some work, Zack," Ernie replied, tossing a piece of popcorn into his mouth, "and I'm all by myself too, see?" he motioned to the empty room.

Nuala rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

"Yeah, right," Zack laughed. "Nuala's mom told me the gang might be here. So I just came down to see if I saw them," he said.

"Nope. I haven't seen anyone," Ernie said, shaking his head. "There's just me, my stack of papers, my bowl of popcorn, a few tables, a couple of chairs..."

"I get the picture," Zack interrupted. "I get the picture."

"Yeah, you get the picture," Ernie nodded.

"Listen, if the gang comes around, tell them I'm lookin' for them OK?" Zack asked.

"Sure, sure, no problem," Ernie said.

"I wonder where they disappeared to." Zack said, looking around. Lana Archer had no reason to lie to him, did she? "I'll see you, Ernie."

"Take it easy, Zack," Ernie called as the soon-to-be birthday boy left. He waited a few seconds before looking down at the teens beside him. "OK, the coast is clear!"

Nuala sighed and walked out from behind the bar; she rapped on the door leading to the back room, and called out to her brother. "Ci, you can come out now!" she said, sitting on a barstool opposite Ernie. "Oh, by the way, has anyone ever told you that you ramble when you're nervous?" she asked the barman.

"You put me on the spot," Ernie said with a shrug. "What did you want me to do? Lie flawlessly?"

Kim chuckled, and patted Ernie's arm. "Either way, that was a close one," she said, reaching for the popcorn.

Ernie and the others nodded in agreement, as Ciaran joined them with Chaos and Ceaser in tow.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The next morning at school, Nuala and Ciaran wandered through the halls towards their lockers and bumped into a very upset Zack.

"Hey, Zack, you OK?" Nuala asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Zack asked.

"'Cause you look a little bummed, dude," Ciaran said.

"Yeah, well, today was supposed to be a special day for me," Zack said. "But it's not so special when people forget."

"Forget what?" Nuala asked.

"Like you'd care," Zack said. "I'll see you later or something, maybe." He brushed past them and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the two Archer siblings to look and feel guilty.

Ciaran sighed and looked after the black Ranger. "You sure this is a good idea?" he asked, as they carried on walking. "He looks upset."

"I'm thinking the same, Ci," Nuala agreed, spotting the others. "Hey, guys, we just saw Zack, he didn't look too pleased."

"Yeah, he thinks we've forgotten his birthday," Ciaran agreed.

"Hey, don't sweat it, alright?" Jason said. "He's going to be so surprised later, that we're gonna have to pull him off the ceiling, He'll be OK until then."

"If you're sure," Nuala said, exchanging an uncertain look with her brother. Despite Jason trying to boost them up, they still had a feeling of guilt in the pits of their stomach.

"Yeah, now c'mon," said Jason, taking Nuala by the arm. "We're going to be late for class."

"Me too," Ciaran said. "I'll see you later, Nuala."

"Bye, Ci," Nuala said, waving her brother off, "and if you're this eager to get to biology, Jase, _you_ can cut the frog open."

Kim blanched and stared at her friends. "Uh, excuse me, did you just say "cut the frog open?'" she asked.

"Yeah, we're dissecting today," Jason said, almost excitedly.

Nuala gagged, and shook her head. "I'm not cutting up any frog," she said, folding her arms around her binder.

"You don't have too," said Jason. "I'll do it - now come on, we're going to be late." He pulled her off down the hallway, giving her a limited amount of time to shout 'see you later' to the others, much less wave to them.

"I'd hate to be Nuala right now," said Kim, shuddering at the idea of cutting open an innocent frog.

Trini chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, anyway, see you later guys," she said to Billy and Kim, before heading off to English.

"All ready?" Kim said to Billy as she closed her locker door, and they headed off to Mathematics together.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The ring of the bell echoed loudly throughout the school as Jason and Nuala took their respective seats at their lab bench. Jason gazed at his female companion amusedly, with one hand propped under his chin and his brows raised lazily. He was the picture of innocence, but Nuala knew differently.

"What?" Nuala asked without looking at him.

"You're really dreading this lesson, aren't you?" Jason asked. "Is cutting up a frog really that hard on you?"

"How about we stick a knife in you and cut you up?" Nuala asked. "Just to see how you like it?"

Jason's eyes widened and he shook his head. "OK, first of all," he said, holding up one finger. "The frog is dead, therefore we're not hurting it, and secondly, that's hostile, even for you."

Nuala rolled her eyes and looked down at the frog that was lying neatly on its back in the centre of a glass tray. "I'm not touching him with a knife," she said.

"Oh, come on," Jason said, picking up the small surgical knife. "It'll be like playing doctors - you _did_ play doctors growing up, right?"

"No," Nuala said, shaking her head. "I was horseback riding and figure skating. I never saw the appeal to cutting people open." She shuddered at the idea.

Jason chuckled and rolled the knife between his fingers. He looked up as their teacher, Miss Prescott, called for their attention. She reminded them that they were to take notes of the dissection as they would need them for their reports at the end of the week.

"Begin," Miss Prescott said, sitting down at her desk. All around the room students picked up their scalpels and cut into the rubbery flesh of the poor dead amphibian. Meanwhile, Nuala stared at her own creature, and resisted the urge to gag at the sight.

"Well, let's get started, eh?" Jason said, posing the scalpel at the stop of the frog's stomach.

"Wait," said Nuala, grabbing his hand. "How about a deal? _You_ do the dissecting, and _I_ take notes?"

"But that's not fun."

"I can't do this, Jason," Nuala said.

Jason paused and stared at his white-faced friend. "OK," he said, touching her hand and squeezing. "You read the instructions to me, and I'll cut him open, OK?"

Nuala forced a smile and nodded. She grabbed her notebook, and flipped to the required page. "First you have to make an incision horizontally across the throat. Make sure it's across the top layer of skin, and not the organs below."

Carefully Jason probed the rubbery skin, and sliced across the throat. It was hard, but he managed it with no problems. "Next?" he asked, looking at Nuala, she had her head turned away from what he was doing and was staring intently at the words on the page of her book.

"Make an incision horizontally between the two hind legs - again, carefully," Nuala read, dragging her finger across the smooth page. She heard Jason grunting, but didn't look up.

"Next?"

"Connect the two horizontal incisions with a vertical incision down the belly."

Jason found the belly to be the easiest of places to cut. Within seconds he had opened up the two flaps he had created, and put down the scalpel. "What torture instrument is next?" he asked, staring at his choice of tools.

"Tweezers," Nuala said, "to remove the organs, and a scissors to clip them free when necessary."

"Got it," Jason said. He gently squeezed a few organs between the tweezers, and clipped them free whilst Nuala made notes in her book. She was determined to not look his way, and Jason couldn't help but find her disgust at the lesson amusing.

When the horrible deal was finally over, Jason and Nuala cleaned up their station, washed their hands, and quickly exited the room. Nuala shuddered and made a quick beeline to her locker, almost walking into Billy and Kim as they exited the Mathematics' room together.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Kim called, following her friend. "Are you OK? You're looking a little pale."

Nuala ignored her, wrenched open her locker and grabbed a bottle of water from inside. She had drunk half the bottle by the time Trini had joined them, whilst Jason couldn't keep the amused smirk from his face.

"What's going on?" Trini asked.

"Nuala nearly fainted in Biology," Jason said.

"You did?" Billy asked, looking at the silver Ranger.

"Every time we did dissections in my old school I always passed out or felt sick. I have never been able to do them," Nuala explained.

Trini smiled, comfortingly and slapped Jason in the chest. "Did you talk to Miss Prescott before today?" she asked.

"Yeah, she was the one who suggested that I take notes while Jason does the dissecting," Nuala said.

"Well, it's over now," said Kim, gently. "You've just got the report to do."

Nuala nodded. "Yeah, I can start it tomorrow," she said to Jason.

"OK," Jason said. "We should have a free period tomorrow's lesson, we can meet and start it them."

"Sounds good," Nuala said, checking the time. It was nearly time for second period History.

"Catch you later, guys," Trini said, walking off with Kim and Jason.

"Ready?" Billy asked. Nuala nodded, slammed her locker door and followed Billy onwards to history class.

At the end of the day, the Rangers - save for Zack, who hadn't been seen since earlier that morning, - and Ciaran met outside the front of the entrance to the building.

"I have to check on Ellis before I go anywhere," Nuala said. "So Ciaran and I'll meet you at the youth centre later, OK?"

"OK. See you then," Jason said. "The rest of us will try and find Zack."

"Sure," Nuala nodded. "See you later."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Sometime later that same day, after checking in with her mother and Ellis, Nuala sat in the front garden doing homework. She'd just set Ellis down for a nap and decided to get as much work done before Zack's surprise party later.

Turning the page of her science book, Nuala folded her legs underneath her and put pen to paper. She had promised Jason they'd start the biology report tomorrow during free period, but she wanted to get it out of the way, the more she thought about the dissecting of the frog, the more sick she felt.

Managing to write out her name, and assignment title, Nuala sighed as her communicator jingled and Zordon called out to her.

_"Nuala, Zack is in trouble."_ Zordon said. "_Rita has sent one of her creatures to attack him. He needs help fast._"

"Where are the others?" Nuala asked, jumping up quickly.

"_They are already there!_"

"And so am I," Nuala replied. She looked around her surroundings, carefully looking for people who may have been watching her, and then fell into single formation. "It's morphin' time - Dire Wolf!"

Reaching for her communicator, Nuala disappeared in a cylinder of silver, just as her brother walked outside with his homework books. He stopped short as his sister's teleportation sequence disappeared, and then returned inside to tell his mother that Nuala was gone.

Teleporting straight into the battlefield, Nuala wobbled slightly and looked down - surprised to find that she had somehow managed to teleported directly onto the top of the five person pyramid her friends had created.

"Oh! Hi, Nuala," Trini said, looking up.

"How did I get up here?" Nuala asked.

"That's a good question," said Kim, also looking up. "Maybe we should figure it out later. Got your blade blaster?"

Nuala nodded and reached for the weapon on her hip. She prepped it up, and aimed down firing at the three dimensional crystal her friends had created. A ring of light silver energy encased the crystal and it hit the dark creature they were facing. The monster snarled, and deflected the blast back at the rangers, causing the pyramid to collapse.

"Ha! Take that, wise guys!" Rita shouted from her vantage point. She threw her staff at the feet of the dark creature and he grew to thirty-feet.

"We need Dino Zord power. Now!"

"Let's go!" said Zack. He was already bummed that his friends had forgotten his birthday, and now he had to fight Rita on top of it. As soon as the Megazord was complete, the rangers were attacked by the Dark Knight, his poisonous sword sliced straight through their exterior, almost reaching them inside the cockpit.

"Holy crap!" Nuala cursed as sparks flew all over her control panel. "What was that?" she asked, looking around at her friends.

"Apparently his special attack," Kim answered. "He totally trashed our weapons before you arrived."

"I'm gonna take a guess and say he's Rita's trump card," Nuala said, using her controls to block the Dark Knight's sword with the Dire spear. She slashed in down in the form of an 'X', and then jabbed it at the knight, raised him into the air and threw him over the shoulder of the Megazord.

The Dark Knight growled as he landed on his feet behind the Megazord; he turned to attack and found himself face-to-face with a power sword.

"It's not fun when we fight back, is it?" Zack said, raising the sword and blocking the knight's double attack. He then spun the arm of the Megazord around, and the two locked swords twisted until the Dark Knight let his go and it flew out of the way. "

"Where did that come from?" Trini asked as the Dark Knight somehow managed to render the Megazord to its knees, and retrieve his sword. He kicked the Megazord in the chest and they stamped on them, hard enough to draw anguish cries from the Rangers, and sparks from the consoles.

"I think I've figured it out," said Zack, suddenly.

"Figured what out?" Kim asked.

"How ugly man's beating us," Zack replied. "Any energy we throw at him, he just reflects back at us! That's why our weapons all burned out."

"So what do we do about it?!" Jason asked.

"Reflect his energy back at him, along with a bit of our own!" Zack insisted.

"That might just work," Nuala agreed. "We give him a high-powered taste of his own medicine!"

"Morphenomenal, Zack!" Kim said, leaning forward in her seat behind the black Ranger.

"Hey, let me have the honor of zapping Sir Buckethead," said Zack.

"Go for it," Jason agreed.

Zack nodded and recalibrated the controls on his console. The cockpit glowed a bright while colour as the shield-paneled visor of the Zords eyes lit up and fired a high-voltage energy beam at the knight. It hit his sword, holding him in place.

"Dufus, get free!" Rita shouted, angrily.

"I'm trying!" the Knight replied.

Forcing the Megazord to its feet, the Rangers re-energized their sword and slashed it at the knight, slicing his own in half.

"Hey, wait a second!" the knight shouted, alarmed at the sudden turn of events.

"Gotcha now!" said Zack. He powered the sword up to its maximum capacity, and then slashed it down through the monster, cutting him in half.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Zack frowned and looked up at the Youth Centre; he was still confused as to why his friends were insistent on stopping by here after the battle. "Tell me again why we're here?" he asked.

"I promised Ernie I'd stop by after school," Nuala said. "But I forgot in my haste to get home. It won't be two seconds, I swear."

"Uh, OK," Zack said, following her inside. "Hey, wait, why is it so dark in here?" he added, passing through into the room behind Nuala, He didn't feel or sense the silver Ranger slide behind him, until she had flipped the switch and the lights came to life.

"SURPRISE!"

Zack jumped at the sudden loud yell, and a grin broke out over his face as he looked around at everyone there. There were balloons, banners, and half-a-dozen people from school, including Ernie.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZACK!"

"Aw, man!" Zack said, turning around and pulling Nuala, Kim and Trini into a strong bear hug, while Jason and Billy patted his shoulders in a form of friendly comfort.

"Happy Birthday, Zack," Nuala said, as he pulled away and turned to face his party guests.

"Aw, man, this is all for me?" he asked.

"You thought we forgot, didn't you?" Jason asked, amused.

"Yeah, and I was bumming!" Zack replied. "Oh, this is so cool, you guys! Thanks - wait, what's that noise?" he added as an electrical cackle came from the bar.

"RUN AND HIDE!" Ciaran shouted darting away from the bar as the cake-o-matic started to gurgle and shake. He darted across the dance floor and collided with a chair at the table his mother was sitting at with Ellis.

"Oh, not again!" Ernie shouted, running up to the bar and opening the door of the machine. "I thought this thing was fixed!"

Nuala bit the tip of her fingernail and glanced at Billy, uncertainly. The blue Ranger sighed and rushed forward to help Ernie, while Zack took Nuala by the arm and dragged her down to the dance floor with the others.

"Ciaran tells me you know how to dance," Zack said to the silver Ranger.

"Uh, no, not exactly," Nuala said, glaring around at her brother.

"Don't lie, Nuala," Ciaran shouted from out of reach. "You're an awesome dancer!"

"Yeah, but only on the ice," Nuala said in protest.

"Well, it's about time you learned off the ice," said Zack, taking her hand. "Come on, just follow my lead."

Nuala groaned and tried to escape, only to find her path blocked by an amused looking Kim, Trini and Jason, all of which, like Zack, were insistent that she demonstrate her great dancing skill.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Tuesday, 03 June, 2014 at 03:13pm**


	10. Opposing Personalities

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, this is just a friendly message saying that updates may be erratic for the next few weeks. I received some devastating news about my grandfather yesterday, and I'm trying to keep a normal routine, but everything is just so blurry and hazy right now that I can't focus on my normal writing routine without feeling so guilty. He was the best man in my whole life, my rock, and life seems pointless and meaningless right now. So, if you will please have a bit of patience with me, at least until everything has sunk in and I'm back in the groove, I would be very grateful to you all. Thank you for your understanding. I appreciate it.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **CamaroDude1989, Skyfrost14, DarkKnight4ever** and** Kaizuka-Michiko **for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"Hey," Nuala grinned jumping up onto the park bench beside Billy. She'd just ben dropped off by her mother, after taking Ciaran and Ellis to the doctors for their annual flu jabs.

"Hey," Billy replied back, sipping at the refreshing drinks that Kim had brought over. "How are your brother and Ellis?"

"They're OK," Nuala said. "Ciaran's whining a bit about how his arm feels dead, but Ellis is asleep. Mum said she'd watch him for a few hours so I can have a baby free afternoon to hang out with you guys."

"Cool," Billy smiled.

Nuala nodded and then turned her attention to the volleyball game that was going on. "How's it going?" she asked.

"Jason and Trini are winning, as usual," Billy said.

"I take it that happens often?" Nuala asked.

"Almost every game."

Nuala chuckled and pulled off her hoodie as the heat started to get to her, beneath she was wearing a simple white tank top. Most of her clothes consisted of white or black items with silver trimmings, mostly because it was extremely difficult to find anything that was solidly silver.

"Hey, Nuala, you want to play?" Jason called from the volleyball court.

"Sure," Nuala replied.

"You can take over for me," Trini said. "I need a drink."

Nuala smiled and high-fived Trini as their paths crossed. The yellow Ranger joined Billy, who was watching as Nuala took her place behind Jason, the volleyball in her hands.

"Why don't you take a picture, Billy?" Trini teased.

Burning crimson, Billy looked away as the silver Ranger served the ball, and knocked it towards Kim. The pink Ranger returned the serve, but Jason intercepted it and hit it away from Zack. Nuala shrieked with laughter as the ball flew just above her head, brushing her fingertips as she reached up to grab it.

"Got it!" Jason called, covering her back and knocking the ball back at Nuala.

Pivoting herself at the hips, Nuala volleyed the ball over the net at Kim. The pink Ranger batted the ball back, but ended up hitting the net instead.

"Good hustle," Jason said, as he reached for the ball. He tossed it back and forth between his hands, and then took his position.

"OK, six," Trini shouted from the bench with Billy. "Game point - come on, Jase!"

"Ready, Nuala?" Jason asked.

"Do it!" Nuala said. Jason nodded and volleyed the ball over the net; it flew towards Zack, who batted it away towards Kim. The pink Ranger tossed it back over the net, but it was quickly returned as Nuala jumped up and shot it back.

Both Zack and Kim shot forward to try and save the ball, but were too slow and watched with a saddened defeat as it thudded against the sand.

"Yes, we win!" Jason said, lifting Nuala off of her feet and spinning her around. The silver Ranger laughed joyously, as Zack and Kim took their defeat better than expected. "So who do we take on next?" he added. No sooner had he asked did several putty patrollers arrive.

"Oh, so not who I had in mind!" Nuala grumbled. She yelped as a puttie streamed past her, knocking her off of her feet and sending her tumbling onto the sand. Jumping back to her feet, Nuala kicked up and cracked one of the putties closest to her in the head, causing it to stumble away into Jason, who delivered the final kick that eventually put the putty down for good.

On the other side of the court, Zack and Trini were doing feverishly well against their own putty patrollers, while Kim and Billy held their own - Billy had managed to entangle a putty in the volley net, while Kim was double kicking several putties in the sides as they tried to attack her.

Once the putties were finished, Nuala ducked under the net and followed Billy back to the drinks. "After that," she sighed, picking up a glass of clear liquid. "I could drink a fountain."

"Only if you save some of that fountain for me," said Kim, approaching.

"Here," said Billy handing both girls' a drink. They accepted graciously, and Billy looked to Nuala. "I didn't know you played volleyball."

"Yeah, you did great out there," Kim agreed.

"I don't play volleyball," Nuala replied. "But I did play netball a lot at my old school."

"Nice," Billy complimented. "Bottoms up," he added lifting his own glass up. He clinked it with Nuala and Kim, and the three of them drank deeply.

Nuala cringed and dropped the empty glass once she had finished, thankfully it was plastic and didn't break as it hit the bench on its way to the floor.

"Urgh!" Kim said tossing her own glass over her shoulder, a look of disgust on etched into her face.

Swing his hand down, Billy knocked the tray of three full glasses off of the bench, sending them crashing to the floor.

"What happened?" Jason asked, as he, Trini and Zack walked over, drawn in by the grunts and groans of disgust.

"Get out of my face," Kim said, shoving Trini asked. The yellow Ranger stared, both confused and upset at her best friend.

"Yeah, get out of her face," said Billy, coming to Kim's side. He reminded the others too much of Skull, who was usually seen repeating everything Bulk, had previously said.

"What's wrong with you?" Jason asked him, never in all the years he'd been friends with Billy had the blue Ranger acted this way.

"Nothing, what's wrong with you?" Billy asked, shoving Jason. The red Ranger held his hands up in defense. He didn't want to hurt Billy, but he also didn't want any trouble.

"Guys, guys, guys," Trini said, stepping in and trying to defuse the tension. "How about another game of volleyball?"

Nuala scoffed and slid down off of the bench. "You're always the little miss 'voice-of-reason', aren't you, Trini?" she said.

"Besides, volleyball is for dorks," Kim added.

"Yeah, and you guys are dorks!" Billy agreed, glowering at Zack and Jason.

Both Kim and Nuala laughed.

"Come on, let's kick it!" Billy said, standing between the pink and silver Rangers, he put both his hands on their necks and herded them away from the others, leaving them virtually confused.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

_(Next morning at school...)_

Ciaran frowned as he quickly slipped through the hallways; he was tired from the long walk from his house to the high school, and was panting heavily by the time he found Jason, Zack and Trini outside their lockers.

"What's up, little man?" Zack asked noticing Ciaran before the other two. "Where's Nuala?"

"I was actually hoping she'd be with you," Ciaran said.

"What do you mean? Haven't you seen her yet?" Jason asked.

Ciaran shook his head. "No, she was acting really weird last night. I mean, in the last year, I've never seen Nuala ignore Ellis, but last night it was like she was an entirely different person - she came home after being at the park with you guys, grabbed a few clothes and then left again. Mum and I didn't see her all night."

"That doesn't sound like Nuala," said Trini.

"It's not," Ciaran agreed. "I called in at Billy's before I came to school, but his father said that he and Nuala had already left."

"She was at Billy's last night?" Zack asked. He was confused on why Nuala would stay at Billy's, rather than at her own home with her baby.

Trini sighed and bit her lower lip. "Now I'm a little worried," she said. "At first I thought she'd had a little bit too much sun, I mean, she's always complaining about not being used to the sun so much, but abandoning her baby, and stay out all night? That's not Nuala, at all."

"Speaking of not being Nuala at all," Jason said, spying three familiar faces at the end of the hall. "That's _definitely_ not Nuala."

Trini, Ciaran and Zack looked around to see Nuala standing between Billy and Kim, she was wearing a black corset which tied behind her neck, and emphasized her small waist and hips, a pair of black denim hot pants, fingerless leather gloves, ankle high, thin-heeled handcuff boots, and an open work jacket with symmetrical cut leather pieces across the chest.

"That's a lot of leather," Jason said, tracing his eyes tracing over his friend's choice of clothing. Aside from her clothes being all basic black, with the odd silver thrown in touches, Nuala was also wearing black eye-liner and lipstick.

"What's she doing?" Ciaran asked, watching as his sister, Billy and Kim - both of whom were dressed in a similar punk-fashion - bully a freshman, demanding that he hand over his lunch money. When the kid announced he didn't have any, they shoved him away.

"Hi, guys...?" Trini said, nervously as her three friends made their way slowly down the hallway towards them.

Billy scoffed and brushed past Zack, shoving him into his locker. "Study geeks," she said, stopping short as Ciaran stepped in his way and stared up at his sister. "Move it, kid!" he snapped.

"Nuala, what's wrong with you?" Ciaran asked. "Where were you this morning? You were supposed to walk me to school!"

"You're fourteen, Ciaran," Nuala replied, harshly. "You can walk yourself to school!"

"Hey, ease up, Nuala," Zack said, pulling a visibly hurt Ciaran aside. "He's your brother."

"He's also a whiny little brat!" Nuala replied.

Meanwhile, Skull had caught Kim's attention. "Hey, Nuala, honey, check these two out," the pink Ranger called to her friend. "Now this is my kind of man," she added grabbing onto the front of Skull's jacket. "What do you say; you and I go out Saturday night and _tear_ up the town?"

"Well..." said Skull, pretending to think for a second. "OK!"

"What do you say, Nuala?" Kim asked, turning to her friend, and eyeing Bulk as he watched Nuala, an almost hopeful look on his face. "We could always, you know, _double date_."

Before Nuala could reply, Bulk groaned as Billy shoved him hard against the lockers. "What you looking up, pal?" he asked, having noticed Bulk's wandering eye over Nuala. "Keep your hands and eyes, to yourself, got it?"

"Listen, pencil neck..." Bulk started, but cut off as Billy caught him by the scruff and hoisted him into the air. Even Bulk would admit that Billy was stronger than he looked.

"Got it?!" Billy repeated.

"Yeah, I got it!" Bulk replied, his voice unusually high.

"Good." Billy said, dropping Bulk back onto his feet, and then searching his pockets for any lose change.

"You're not seriously going to go out with him, are you?" Nuala asked Kim after Bulk, who was close to tears, pulled a love-struck Skull out of sight.

"Why not?" Kim asked. "I offered a double date; it's not my fault Billy's overprotective."

Nuala smiled at Billy as he put his hand on her waist, in her natural mind she would've probably blushed crimson at the notion, but given her current state of mind she was pretty comfortable. "I was just thinking that you could do so much better than Skullovitch."

"Like I said, he's my kind of man," Kim said, shrugging.

"If you say so," Nuala said, as her vision blurred and the school hallway disappeared. Once refocused, Nuala looked around to see that she was, once again, in the gloomy looking command centre - or rather in a cage within the gloomy looking command centre.

"Hey, what's this?" Billy yelled, reaching out towards the bars. He jumped back was he was electrified.

"This is kidnapping!" Nuala shouted over to where Trini, Jason, Zack and Ciaran stood with Alpha.

"Have no fear, Nuala, because when we get out of here we'll just kick their sorry buns," Kim said, angrily.

Ciaran shook his head as he stared at his sister. He was so confused on what had happened to her, as he'd never seen her act like this before.

"What's wrong with them, Zordon?" Trini asked.

"Look at the viewing globe," Zordon instructed. The three unaffected Rangers and Ciaran turned to the sphere to see the creature known as Baboo dropping a red liquid from massive heights. "Yesterday, Baboo put a potion into their drinks at the park, and caused them to turn from good too bad. The only cure is a potion made from the sap of the singing squash - a rare root found in certain dimensional gaps."

"How is that going to help us?" Ciaran asked.

"Drinking the sap from the singing squash is the only hope of returning your sister, Billy and Kim to normal," Zordon explained.

"It won't be easy," Trini sighed.

"Quit staring at us," Kim snapped as Alpha turned to look at them.

"Yeah!" Billy said, laughing.

Nuala, meanwhile, was staring at Ciaran. The look on his face, for some reason, caused her heart to ache. It was the look of utter despair and fear.

"What you looking at, kid?!" Billy snapped. "Take a picture - it'll last longer!"

"Yeah!" Kim laughed while Nuala blinked and looked away from Ciaran. She shook her head and smirked at her two friends.

Suddenly a piercing siren echoed throughout the command centre.

"Rita has taken advantage of this situation," Zordon announced, "and released a terror toad on Earth. It must be stopped."

"Wow, look at that cool frog," Kim said, pointing at the viewing globe. "Wartsville."

"It's Rita's most evil creation yet - the Terror Toad. It has an enormous appetite. Be careful, and let the power protect you," Zordon warned.

"Ciaran, you stay here," Zack said. "Help Alpha in any way you can."

Ciaran nodded and looked around at his sister, and then back at Zack, Jason and Trini. "Be careful you, guys," he said.

"It's Morphin' time!" Jason said one arm behind his back. "Tyrannosaurus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

As the red, black and yellow Rangers took off, Ciaran turned to Zordon. "How do we find a singing squash?" he asked.

"I'm already searching inter-dimensional gaps," Zordon said. "You must be patient."

Ciaran sighed, glanced once more at his sister and the others, and then returned his attention to the viewing globe. "Zordon, Jason and the others are in trouble!" he exclaimed, watching as Trini was gobbled up by the Terror toad.

"_Aim! Fire!_" Jason said, taking aim with his blade blaster. Zack mimicked his actions and fired, only for the beam to hit the frog's stomach and bounce back.

"_You can't hurt me!_" the frog gurgled.

"_You've had it, frog face!_" Zack said, angrily. He jumped back to his feet, and tried to attack the frog, but Jason held him back.

"_No, Zack, he's too powerful! We need a new plan._"

"Ay-ai-ai-ai!" Alpha screeched. "That toad is a real terror."

"What are we going to do?" Ciaran asked, nervously.

"Alpha," Zordon interrupted. "I have located a dimensional gap containing a singing squash. Since Jason and Zack are fighting that monster, I must send you to retrieve it."

"Me? Why me?" Alpha asked.

"Unfortunately, Billy, Kimberly and Nuala are of no use at the present time," Zordon reminded the robot, "and Ciaran is far too young, and only a civilian in order to undertake this mission."

"I see what you mean," Alpha said, turning to see the three Power Punks in the cage. Kim was busy painting her nails, while Billy and Nuala entertained themselves in a small game of slaps - by the look on Billy's face, Nuala was winning.

"Hey, when are we going to get out of here?" Kim asked, looking up to find Zordon staring at her.

Alpha sighed and turned to Ciaran. "Stay here," he warned. "I'll be as soon as possible."

"Be careful, Alpha," Ciaran warned.

"Teleporting now," Alpha said, pressing the button on his chest, and disappearing.

"Hey, green head," Billy shouted at Zordon. "Why don't you quit bugging that frog and let us out of here!"

"Yeah, you big, green geekoid," Kim cackled.

Ciaran shook his head, and looked up at the giant floating head. "Couldn't you have put them in a soundproof cage, Zordon?" he asked. "Kim sounds like nails on a chalkboard."

"You will be released once our mission succeeds," Zordon replied. "Ciaran, you must keep tabs on Alpha's progress. Be ready to teleport him back to the command centre."

"On it," Ciaran said, running over the console. Having spent enough time at the command centre the past few weeks, he had learned quite a bit from Alpha to know to run the main computer systems. "How's it going, Alpha?" he asked, tapping into the robot's frequency.

"_I have the squash,_" Alpha replied. "_Prepare for arrival._"

Nuala shielded her eyes as a bright light filled the command centre, and the little robot from before reappeared. He was carrying a vegetable that was emitting a high shrilled whistle. "Urgh! Someone seriously needs to reconsider a career in singing!" she said, blocking her hears.

"Yeah!" Kim and Billy agreed, cackling again.

"How are we going to get them to drink it?" Ciaran asked, joining Alpha.

"Simple," said the robot, and he used the console to summon three glass tumblers from the otherwise non-existent kitchen. The tumblers were half-full with lemonade, and turned green when Alpha added the sap to them.

"I hope this works," Ciaran said, picking up one of the glasses and taking it over to his sister. "Here... it'll make you feel better."

"Finally, a little service around here!" Billy snapped, snatching a tumbler off of Alpha, while Kim did the same.

Nuala hesitantly took the tumbler from Ciaran, and raised it to her lips. She drank it and gagged, dropping the tumbler to the floor. "Urgh, that's gross!" she said, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. She jumped as Kim let out a shrill scream.

"Ew, gross, what am I wearing?" the pink Ranger asked, looking down at her pink play suit and leather jacket.

"Forget what you're wearing, what did you do to your hair?" Nuala asked, noticing the slight frizz.

"Whatever hit me, must've hit you too," Kim said. "Hey, you look good in a corset."

Nuala screamed and looked down at herself. "On Halloween, maybe," she said, running her hands over herself. "I haven't shown this much skin since I was figure skating."

"Nuala?" Ciaran asked, unsurely.

"Ciaran?" Nuala asked, looking up at her brother. She could remember everything that had happened up to that moment, and everything she had done and said. "Oh, Ciaran, I'm so sorry!" she yelped, squeezing through the bars and enveloping her brother in a bear hug.

Ciaran melted in her embrace, burying his face in her clothes.

"Hey, look," said Kim, pointing at the viewing globe.

"That's Jason," Billy said, noticing his friend was taking a beating.

"Alpha, Zordon, what's going on?" Nuala asked.

"Rita has sent her Terror Toad to Earth," Ciaran answered. "He's already swallowed Zack and Trini."

"Ciaran is correct," Zordon confirmed. "The only way you can beat the Terror toad is by removing his horn, and then look for his weak spot."

"Does he have one?" Kim asked, looking mortally disgusted.

"It is right below his neck," Zordon explained. "Billy, Kimberly, you must help Jason before he is swallowed by the Terror Toad. Go now, and let the power protect you."

Billy and Kim nodded and turned to Nuala.

"I'll catch up," the silver Ranger said, wrapping her arm around her brother. She had to make sure that he was OK, after everything she had done and said to him today, she felt immensely guilty - not to mention the terror she must've put her mother through.

"It's morphin' time!" Kim said, falling into formation. "Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

With her friends heading off, Nuala looked down at her little brother, and then up at Zordon. "There's something I have to do," she said.

"Good luck, Nuala," Zordon said as Nuala and Ciaran disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala stumbled and groaned as she landed on her head with a bounce. "Urgh! What was I thinking?" she grumbled unbuckling her boots and removing them. She dropped them onto the floor at the bottom of her bed, and proceeded to unclip the corset from around her neck. It was several hours after the battle, and needless to say the Terror Toad had been history the second Kimberly and Billy had turned up - although they did run into a spot of trouble with both Billy and Jason becoming lunch, and leaving it to Kim to save the day.

Nuala hadn't attended the battle, seeing as she had her own problems - in the form of an angry mother to deal with. Lana Archer was worse than the Terror Toad, and Nuala secretly wished that's he had been battling the monster, rather than facing her mother.

"How are you doing?" Lana asked, opening her daughter's door. "Need any help?"

"No," Nuala said, removing the corset and replacing it with a tank-top.

"Good, because I would say this is part of your punishment."

"As if grounding me isn't bad enough," Nuala said, "and even then that's unfair! It's not like I turned punk on purpose!"

Lana nodded, and looked thoughtful. "That is true," she said, "but you also promised me that you would be careful. Getting caught in a magical spell is not keeping your word."

"Are you going to do this every time I get into trouble?" Nuala asked, unbuttoning her hot pants and sliding them off. She quickly slipped on a pair of jeans, and fell flat on her stomach on the bed. Her face smushed up against her pillow.

"Hmm. Maybe," Lana said. "We'll see if you learn your lesson this time, first."

Nuala muttered into her pillow, causing her mother to raise her eyebrow.

"What?"

"I said this is unfair," Nuala repeated, raising her head.

"All's fair in love and war," Lana replied.

Nuala huffed and jumped up into a sitting position. "Fine. I'm grounded," she said. "Can I have my baby now? I have a whole 24 hours to make up for, and I want a cwtch."

Lana looked thoughtful, and then opened the door wider to allow Ellis to crawl in side. The baby stopped and looked around his room, a look of happiness on his face. Nuala grinned at the sight of him, and leaned forward on her bed. Ellis raised his head, and his gaze caught his mother's. He squealed happily, and tumbled over himself in his haste to get at her.

"Mummy..." Ellis said, clear as day.

Both Lana and Nuala stopped dead and looked at each other. Ellis had been garbling some words for a while, but he had not said anything intelligible... at least not until now.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**A grounded Power Ranger - who would've thought? What did you think about the chapter?**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Thursday, June 05, 2014 at 1:02pm**


	11. Clowning Around

**Author's Note:** Hey all – I would've updated this yesterday but these past four days have felt like four months! It's unbelievable how slow time crawls when you're feeling down, plus I haven't had the energy to do anything. But I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Hershey Gurl, Phantom - of - light** and **Selena Cloud** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Nuala looked around herself. Her eyes were alight with excitement as she took in the whole scene. Children shouted in excitement, bouts of laughter erupted from all over the park, and cheesy music played from every ride available.

"When was the last time you went to a theme park, Nuala?" Jason asked, chuckling at her excited look.

"A few years back," Nuala replied. "Way before I had this little tyke." She gestured to the baby sleeping against her chest. Rather than drag his stroller with her to the theme park, Nuala had dug out the baby carrier that her grandmother had bought her when she found out she was pregnant.

"How are you, little man?" Jason asked Ciaran. The young lad was eyeing the clown beside them with a look of distaste.

"Nuala," Ciaran said, drawing closer to his sister and as far away as possible from the clown.

Nuala wrapped her arm around him, and hugged him tightly. "It's OK, Ci, he won't try anything," she said.

"What's up?" Kim asked.

"He's afraid of clowns," Nuala answered. "Has been ever since he was a child."

"No reason or cause?" Billy asked.

Nuala shrugged, looking lost. "Nope. As far as we know he's always had a fear of clowns," she said. "It's like me and my fear of hospitals. I don't have a clue where the fear stemmed from, only that I have it."

"Ever been in a situation where you've had to be in hospital?" Billy asked.

"I was attacked, and then nine months later I went into labour," Nuala said whilst shaking her head, "but never on those occassions did I feel, you know, terrified, at least not enough to develop a phobia. Even before then I was afraid of going to the hospital. I didn't like the way it smelled."

Billy looked thoughtful but before he could reply or say anything in return, Zack walked towards them on stilts.

"All right, heads up, everybody," the black Ranger called as he waddled over unsteadily. "Witness the Zackman on stilts. Yeah."

"Keep it up, man, you're doing great," Jason said, amused.

"No way, I could never do that," Kim said to Nuala. "The only thing I can balance is shopping bags. How about you?"

Nuala chuckled and nodded. "I'm pretty good with balance," she said. "I had to be in order to secure a perfect jump/spin combination in figure skating."

"True. Other than shopping bags, being on the balance beam is also another thing that i can do. I couldn't do stilts," Kim said, looking up at Zack.

"Hey, Nuala, you want to give it a go?" Zack asked, wobbling slightly.

"No thank you," Nuala replied. "I've already been grounding for a 'stupid stunt', if I fall from up there, my mum will kill me."

Jason chuckled. "You were grounded?" he asked.

"Yeah. It weren't funny," Nuala protested. "It's not like I did it all on purpose, but I did promise her that I wouldn't put myself in danger - kinda stupid now thinking back."

"Wow, your mom must have an elephant's memory," Zack said.

"You have no idea," Ciaran said.

"How about you, little man?" Zack asked. Ciaran had become like a new little brother to the Rangers. Zack more than anyone.

"I'm good," Ciaran said.

Zack shrugged, before wobbling a bit too much. He leaned forward to try and balance himself out, but ended up falling head first into Jason, knocking them both to the floor. "Oh, my big strong hero," the black Ranger teased, as he grabbed Jason's face and kissed his cheek,

"Oh, man, get up!" Jason said, brushing him off quickly.

Ciaran and Nuala chuckled as Billy and Ciaran released Zack from the stilts.

"Looks like you over-leveraged yourself again, Zack," Billy said.

"Come on, stilt-head," Kim said, as Jason grabbed Zack under the arms and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go check out the rest of the fair, you guys."

"Yeah!" Ciaran said, eager to get away from the clown. He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her along. "Nuala, I want to go on the rollercoaster!"

"I'm not going to be able to come on with you," Nuala said.

"That's OK. I can go by myself," Ciaran said.

Nuala bit her lip and looked up at the rollercoaster. She knew that her brother was old enough to ride alone, but she still didn't feel the sense of security she usually felt when she was with him.

"You know, I could go for a rollercoaster ride too," said Zack. "What do you say, Ci?"

"Sweet!" Ciaran grinned.

Nuala sighed and mouthed "thank you" to Zack as he passed.

"Afraid of coasters too, Nuala?" Jason asked, draping an arm around the silver Ranger.

"Are you kidding?" Nuala asked. "I love rollercoasters, I just can't go on them while I have him," she nodded at Ellis.

"We could've watched him," said Kim, generously.

Nuala smiled and shook her head. "It's OK," she said. "Maybe next time. I fear he'd panic if he wakes up and i'm not here or something, you know? I mean, not that I don't trust you guys, because obviously I do."

"We get it," Jason said, reassuringly. "Don't worry about it."

Nuala nodded and looked up to see Zack and Ciaran take their seats at the very front of the coaster. "Oh god, they're going to give me a heart attack!" she complained, covering her mouth with her hand. Her heart was beating loudly in her throat.

"They'll be fine," Billy said. "Let's check out the juggling. Trini says she'd meet us there."

"Then let's go," Kim said, leading the others away.

Nuala took another glance at Ciaran and Zack, but they were already halfway up the coaster incline. She jumped when someone grabbed her hand, starling her.

"Come on," said Billy. "He'll be fine with Zack."

"I know," Nuala said following her friend towards Pineapple, the juggling clown.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"... Pa-Da, Ta-Da!" Pineapple hummed as he juggled four balls. He finished and bowed to his viewers.

"All right," Billy said, clapping in amusement.

"That was neat," said a little girl as she squeezed her way past the Rangers. Trini was behind her.

"How's it going, guys?" the yellow Ranger asked her friends.

"Aside from Nuala suffering a mini heart attack everytime Ciaran is out of her sight, things are fine," Jason said, as Nuala scrunched her nose up at him.

"Bite me, Jase," Nuala said. "You try having an over-excited little brother, and then come and tell me you don't panic whenever he's out of sight."

Trini chuckled and knelt down beside the little girl. "Guys, this is my cousin, Sylvia," she introduced. "Sylvia, that's Billy, Kimberly, Nuala and Jason," she added, pointing at each Ranger in turn.

"Who's that?" Sylvia asked, pointing at Ellis.

"That's Nuala's baby," Trini answered. "His name's Ellis. Her brother Ciaran, and our friend Zack is around here someplace."

"They were on the coaster," Kim said, pointing in the direction of the Rollercoaster.

"Hi," Sylvia said, waving at the team.

"Juggle my eggs and make them fly," Pineapple said, waving an egg at the friends. "Won't one of you give it a try?" he offered the eggs to Sylvia.

The little girl reached for the eggs, but Billy rushed forward. "I'll make an attempt," he said, eager to have a go.

"Didn't you guys see the sign out front?" asked an unmistakeable voice. Lifting her head from Ellis, Nuala rolled her eyes at Bulk and Skull. "'No Geeks Allowed.'"

"What are you guys doing here?" Zack asked, arriving with Ciaran. "Did someone leave your cages open again?"

Ciaran covered his mouth to smother his amused smile and laughter, while Nuala and the others laughed openly.

Bulk and Skull glowered at Zack.

"You may what to get out of here before things get messy," said Skull, cracking his knuckles.

Nuala glanced at Zack, shook her head and looked back down at Ellis as he started to stirr. His thumb was stuck in his mouth, and his eyes were still closed, but he was fidgeting a lot more than usual.

_**SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!**_

"Ha! Only one nailed me!" Skull laughed.

_**SPLAT!**_

Billy chuckled as the last egg cracked down on Skull's head. "I knew I had four," he said.

"Looks like the only mess around here is you guys," Kim said.

"Hey, guys, they're doing gymnastics over there," Jason said, pointing over his shoulder. "Let's go watch."

"You guys go on ahead," Nuala said. "I think Ellis needs a nappy change. I'll catch up."

"Yeah, he's a right little stinker," Zack teased, moving away from the silver Ranger.

Nuala stuck her tongue out at him and looked to Ciaran. "You coming with me or not?" she asked.

"Can I stick with Zack?" Ciaran asked.

"Do not leave him out of your sight," Nuala warned the black Ranger. "Not even for a second!"

Zack held his hands up in defence. "He'll be safe with me, Nuala," he promised. "I'm not a total idiot."

"Here's your chance to prove it," said Nuala, hooking her bag over her shoulder and disappearing into the crowd. She weaved her way through the hundreds of people, and quickly made her way to the disabled public bathroom - it was the only place with a baby changing mat. She carefully set her bag down on the side, and unclipped Ellis from his carrier around her shoulders and waist. "What arent we dealing with today, Tiger Toes?"

Ellis gurgled up at his mouth, a broad, yet beautiful smile on his face.

After she had finished changing him, Nuala set Ellis back into the baby carrier, but this time had him with his back against her chest. He giggled happily and sucked on his fist as his mother made her way out of the public bathroom, and headed back through the crowd towards her friends.

Nuala hadn't made it past the carousel when she saw Pineapple walking past with Sylvia. "Sylvia," Nuala called, catching up with the little girl. "Where are you going?"

"To play," Sylvia answered.

"Does Trini know?"

Sylvia shook her head. "Well, not exactly," she said.

"Sylvia," Nuala sighed. "Hasn't anyone had the 'Stranger-Danger' talk with you? You should never walk off with someone you don't know."

"But Pineapple is my friend," Sylvia said.

"Yes, but you don't know him," Nuala said, holding out her hand. "Come on. We'll go find Trini, and then maybe we can come back and play with Pineapple later."

Sylvia sighed and reached for Nuala's hand, but Pineapple grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

"Not to fast, Mom!" Pineapple sneered. "Sylvia is staying with me."

"Clown, back off!" Nuala snapped, catching Sylvia's wrist and pulling her away from Pineapple. "No wonder kids are afraid of you! You can't just walk off with an innocent child."

Pineapple growled and threw a sprinkle of glitter at Sylvia and Nuala. The silver Ranger squealed and cuddled Ellis close to her as the glitter shower hit the young girl in her charge. She glowed a mellow yellow, before becoming cardboard.

"I guess she's a bit board," Pineapple laughed.

"No! What did you do to her?!" Nuala yelled.

Pineapple giggled and run off, leaving Sylvia to fall backwards onto the floor. Nuala panicked and looked around her. None of the others were anywhere near for her to catch their attention, and the music of the fair was much too loud for them to have heard her anyway.

Glancing at her communicator, Nuala remembered Billy had said they were for emergencies only and not in replacement of a phone. Figuring this was a pretty big emergency, Nuala linked her communicator to the others and called for help.

"Trini. Trini, can you hear me?"

"_What is it, Nuala?_" Trini called back.

"Trini, I've found Sylvia."

"_Oh, thank god!_" Trini said. "_I've been looking for her everywhere. Where are you?_"

"We're near the carousel - Guys, you there?" Nuala added as she ended the connection with Trini, and linked herself up with the others. "Jason, Billy, can you hear me?"

There was a minute's pause before Jason replied back.

"_We hear you, Nuala, what's the problem?_" he asked.

"Guys, you have to find Pineapple."

"_The clown?_" Zack asked.

"No the fruit," Nuala bit back. She wasn't in the mood for games. "Yes, the clown, idiot! I have a feeling he's not all he seems. He turned Sylvia into a cardboard cutout."

"_Magic trick?_" Kim asked.

Nuala shrugged. "He run off after he did it," she said. "And he tried to stop her from coming with me after I found her too. Guys, please just find him."

"_OK,_" said Jason. "_We'll find him. Stay with Slyvia until Trini gets there. Then come find us._"

"Got it," Nuala said, lowering her arm. She run a hand through her hair and looked around as Trini came into view.

"What happened?" the yellow Ranger asked, seeing the cardboard cut out of her cousin. "Nuala?"

"It was the clown, Pineapple," Nuala explained. "The other's are already looking for him. But I don't know what to do for Sylvia. We should find the others, maybe Billy will know something after he's seen her."

Trini, distraught and angry, nodded and picked up her cousin. She carried her under her arm and followed Nuala back through the park.

They found the others near the chain-carousel. They looked unsuccessful in their hunt for Pineapple.

"This fair has to be one of Rita's traps," Trini said as soon as she grew closer. "It's the only explanation as to why a clown would do this to Sylvia."

"Billy, isn't there anything you can do?" Nuala asked, as Ciaran gripped her arm tightly.

"The quasitronic molecular generator in my garage could be the answer," Billy answered.

"Trini take Sylvia to Billy's place," Jason said. "Have Alpha teleport down to help you. Nuala, you take Ciaran and Ellis home and then help Trini. The rest of us will stay here."

Nuala nodded, and clutching Ciaran's hand, hurried off with Trini.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"_- Get you the thrill of your life and ride the sea dragon -_"

Catching up to a man with a megaphone, Jason took it from his possession and raised it to her lips. "Sorry, man, we gotta use this - _Attention, everyone, get out! Rita's attacking the park! It's a trap!_"

"Bipedally ambulate to the nearest convenient outlet," Billy shouted as he and the others directed civilians to the exits.

"Come on! Come on!"

"Everybody, run!"

"Run! Come on, let's go!"

"This way!"

"Come on, out! Everybody out!"

"Hurry up!"

Finally, when the very last person had left the park, the rangers turned to see several clowns coming out from their hiding places all around the park.

"Aw man," Zack complained. "Something tells me these guys aren't here to juggle. I bet they work for Rita."

"We can take these harmless clowns," Jason said.

"Oh, yeah, some clown," Kim said pointing at a clown that had just transformed into a puttie.

Zack shuddered. "Now I see why Ciaran is afraid of these guys," he said. "This is freaky!"

"Freaky is fun!" Pineapple shouted, sprouting out of the ground and juggling three balls. He three the balls at the last remaining three clowns and returned them to their natural puttie state. "Leave them and come with me if you want to save little Sylvia," he said to Billy.

"Alright, clown, what did you do to Sylvia?" Billy asked.

"Billy, don't go!" Jason shouted.

Billy glanced back at his friends and saw that they were surrounded. When he turned back to Pineapple the clown was more than a hundred meters away.

"Come on!" Pineapple coaxed.

Deciding to follow the clown, Billy took off at a fast pace and disappeared. Leaving the others to deal with the puttie patrollers.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Lana looked up in a panic as her daughter and son rushed into the house. Ciaran looked close to tears, while Nuala was breathing heavy. "What's going on?" she asked as Ceaser and Choas started to bark.

"Rita... attacked... the... fair..." Nuala said through laboured gasps. "She... got... Trini's... cousin..."

"Oh, My - is Trini's cousin alright?"

Nuala shook her head and swallowed sharply. "Trini is over at Billy's with Alpha," she explained. "Can you watch Ellis while i go help?"

"Yes, yes, yes, go, quickly!" Lana said, taking her grandson from Nuala, and cuddling him close. Nuala removed the baby carrier and rushed back out the door. She jumped the gate and run across the road to Billy's house. Alpha was already down, and adjusting Billy's machines.

"Any luck?" Nuala asked.

Trini shook her head. She looked scared, and Nuala couldn't blame her. If it had been Ciaran in Sylvia's position she would've felt the same.

"What's happened, Alpha?" Nuala asked, rubbing soothing circles in Trini's back.

"The analysis shows that the only critical thing she's missing is H2O," Alpha replied.

"Water," Nuala said. "Of course! The human body is made up of 90% water."

"So what do we do to fix this?" Trini asked.

"If you disconnect the electrodes," Alpha said, as Trini unclipped the wires from Sylvia's two dimensional body. "I'll apply the water." He held up a bucket and tossed it over Sylvia.

"Nothing is happening," Trini said.

"Give it a chance," Nuala said. But nothing happened after a longer pause.

"I don't understand," Alpha said, shaking his head. "I will re-evaluate the amount of water needed."

Nuala glanced over at the machine, and tapped the screen. "Alpha, you didn't apply enough water," she said. "It says here that only 60% of water has been readded to Syliva's body. We need 30% more."

"Of course!" Alpha exclaimed. "That's it!" He grabbed another bucket of water and threw it at Sylvia just as she sat up.

Trini and Nuala gasped, each covering their mouths with their hands.

"Oh my - Detection alert, detection alert," Alpha said, hurrying away from the table and sliding into the corner. He followed the same rules as the Rangers, and was forbidden from being seen by anyone outside of the Ranger family.

"What's going on?" Sylvia asked, brushing her waterlogged hair from her face. "Trini, what did you do that for?"

Trini laughed and hugged her cousin as Nuala set the empty bucket down on the side.

"At least she sees the funny side," Nuala said, chuckling.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The battle had ended quickly with the others defeating the monster, Rita must've been so disheartened by another defeat that she had forgotten to bring the monster back. Thankfully it was only the clowns that had been under her control, whilst everything else remained normal.

With the threat of the matter under control, the fair reopened and everyone pooled back inside. It was too much of a fun day to let a little bother dampen it, besides keeping up the laughter and happiness of being carefree was what drove Rita up the wall more than anything.

"Ciaran, make sure you keep your hands around him at all times," Nuala warned as she watched her brother carry Ellis into the seat that was shaped like a giant over-sized monkey.

"I will," Ciaran promised, sitting his nephew down. There was a seatbelt inside that Ciaran used to wrap around the little boy, even though it wouldn't do much good if the ride did come to an abrupt stop. Sitting beside his nephew, Ciaran wrapped his arms around him and waited for the ride to start. It was only a simple ride that spun in a circle, the metal handrail in the middle of the monkey was used to determine the speed of the monkey.

Nuala smiled and waved at her son as he sucked on his fist. He laughed and babbled as he sat with Ciaran. His eye were wide with excitement, and he was laughing happily at the idea of being a part of a monkey.

"Hey," Kim said, joining her friend. "We weren't thinking you'd come back."

"I was coming back," Nuala said. "I didn't know about Ciaran, but as soon as he found out that the clowns were gone..." she trailed off and shrugged. "Besides, I'm kinda glad he did come back. I can't see me getting on that monkey, can you?"

Kim chuckled and shook her head. "We're over by the stilts when you're ready," she said. "I think Billy wants to give it a go."

"Let's hope he does better than Zack," Nuala said.

Kim nodded and patted Nuala's arm as she walked away. Nuala watched her for a few minutes and then turned her attention back to the Monkey Mayhem ride. It had already started, and she could see Ellis and Ciaran as they spun past. Ellis was laughing enjoyably. The ride only went on for a few minutes, it was a kiddie ride which meant they couldn't keep the childen on it for too long. Ellis clung to Ciaran as they descended the steps, and cried as his mother walked him away from the monkey's.

"Come on, Tiger Toes," Nuala said, scooping him up. "Let's go watch Billy on stilts, and then we'll find another ride for you."

"Can I go on the tilt-o-whirl?" Ciaran asked.

"Not on your own," Nuala said, shaking her head. "Maybe Zack and Jason will take you."

Ciaran grinned and run off to the others to ask.

Nuala rolled her eyes and followed behind. She reached the other just as Billy sauntered over. She giggled when she saw that Billy wasn't trying the same stilts that Zack had been on, but rather ones that only raised him slightly from the ground.

"When you said stilts, this is not what I had in mind," Kim said.

"Can they even be called stilts?" Trini asked. "You're only a few meters off of the ground."

"Baby steps," Nuala said. "Everyone has to start somewhere. At least this way you can't get hurt if you if you do fall."

The others laughed and Billy stumbled, sliding off of the stilts he had created and crashing into the Jason and Kim.

"Well," said Nuala, shaking her head and chuckling. "Almost."

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Next up we have the "Green Ranger arc" – I shall try and post Part I by Tuesday – Wednesday at the latest.**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Sunday, June 08, 2014 at 06:56pm**


	12. New Kid on the Block, Part I

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, sorry for not updating in the last few days. But I haven't been able to get into writing _anything_. This chapter was a write pain to get started, I literally had to force myself to write it. I'm hoping I am into it enough now to continue writing the next few arcs, so I'm hoping to get it out of the way soon. I do have a relatively basic idea of how long this story is going to be (chapter wise) and I have a suitable ending, so some episodes are going to be moved around, like I did with **The Little Samurai. **Anyway, enjoy reading.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Hershey Gurl, Phantom - of - light** and **Selena Cloud** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Nuala hesitated outside of Mr. Caplan's office and glanced around her. It was the beginning of the school day and she had been asked to report to the principal's office.

Biting the bullet, Nuala knocked on the door and opened it. "Mr. Caplan?" she asked, peering around the doorframe and meeting the gaze of her principal.

"Ah, Miss. Archer, come in, come in," said Mr. Caplan, inviting her in.

Nuala closed the door beside her as she stepped inside. Once she and had returned her attention to Caplan, Nuala noticed that they weren't alone. There was kid, a kid that Nuala had never seen nor met before sitting in one of the chairs opposite Caplan.

"Miss. Archer, meet Tommy Oliver," Caplan said. "Tommy, this is Angel Grove's last new student, Nuala Archer."

"Hi," Nuala said, waving lightly at the boy in green as he stood up and faced her.

"Nice to meet you," Tommy said.

"Likewise," Nuala said. "But I don't understand. Why have I been called here Mr. Caplan, have I done anything wrong?"

"No, Miss Archer, but I have assigned you the job of helping Tommy get used to the school," Mr. Caplan said.

"Me? Are you sure I'm the right person, sir? I mean, I'm still new here myself, I don't know everything or pretty much anything about the school."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Mr. Caplan said. "Now, off you go, and Tommy, welcome to Angel Grove High."

Tommy smiled, shook hands with Caplan, grabbed his backpack and then followed Nuala outside. Once the door was closed he turned to the red-headed female and shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I can find my own way around," he said. "You don't know have to spend the rest of the afternoon with me."

"I don't mind," Nuala said. "Like Caplan said, I was once the new kid. I know what it is like. If it hadn't been for my friends - speaking of which, I better find them and let them know I'm OK. Come on, I'll introduce you, it's better to start the year off with a few friends than alone."

Tommy cracked a smile and followed Nuala through the hallways. She noticed a few people stopped and stared at her and Tommy, but she kept her eyes down and hugged her folder closer to her. As she turned the corner onto the hallway where her locker was located, she noticed Bulk and Skull harassing Kimberly.

"Oh no," Nuala whined.

"Problem?"

"School bullies," Nuala said, pointing out the threesome. "Bulk is the big one, and Skull is the smaller one. They like to flirt a lot with me and my two friends: Kim and Trini, even though we're not that interested."

"Maybe they'll listen to me," said Tommy, walking over to Bulk, Skull and Kim as the two boys failed to understand Kim's rejection.

"Hey," Tommy said. "Didn't you hear the lady? She said no."

"I think it's time for somebody else to be taught a lesson," Bulk said, sneering at Tommy.

Tommy smirked and punched the air several times; he then jumped up and kicked the air four times causing Bulk and Skull to take a step back in alarm.

"Maybe we'll teach him that lesson some other time, Bulk," said Skull, tiptoeing away.

"Yeah," Bulk agreed, hurrying away with Skull in tow.

Nuala laughed as they passed her, and she hurried across the hall to Kim. "Now that's a way to deal with bullies," she said. "Are you alright, Kim?"

"Yeah, never better," Kim said, staring dreamily at Tommy.

"Drooling," Nuala said, nudging the pink Ranger. Kim glared at her friend as she reached up to wipe her lips. Nuala chuckled and motioned to Tommy. "Kim, this is Tommy Oliver, new student. Tommy, this is my friend Kimberly."

"Have you shown him the juice bar, yet?" Kim asked, jumping ahead of herself.

"Um, no, still in school, remember?" Nuala said.

"Right," Kim said, nodding. "Listen, Tommy, a few of us are getting together after school, you know, nothing major, just hanging out at the youth centre. Do you, uh, do you want to join us?"

"Yeah, that sounds cool," Tommy said, looking happy.

"Great," said Nuala. "Well, we'll see you later, Kim - Tommy has biology, and I have to find Jason, I hope he has our report or I'm going to skin him alive."

Kim chuckled and nodded. "See you later, Nuala," she said waving. "Bye, Tommy."

"See you later," Tommy said, waving as he turned the corner with Nuala. "She's cute," he added.

Nuala rolled her eyes and shook her head. Boys were all the same.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After school, Tommy, Nuala and Ciaran walked away from the school together. Nuala had introduced Ciaran as her little brother, and had explained that they were heading home to check on her son before they headed over the Youth Centre. Tommy was surprised to find that Nuala had a 12 month old son, but didn't judge her on the actions. Yes, she was a single teenager mother, but she wasn't the stereotypical kind, and he respected her greatly for that.

"So, you're going to meet us at the Youth Centre?" Nuala asked stopping outside of an alley.

"Yeah. I just gotta check in with my parents," Tommy said. "I'll catch you later."

"Bye, Tommy, see you later," Ciaran said, waving at the boy in green. "I'll race you home," he added to his sister. "Last one there buys the smoothies at Ernie's."

"I buy the smoothies whether I win or not," Nuala said, but took off at a fast pace nonetheless.

"Hey, wait for me!" Ciaran shouted, following after her quickly. Unknown to the two siblings that while they played, Tommy was fighting a squad of Puttie Patrollers in the alley behind them.

He managed to hold them all off, before a high-pitched shriek made him look up in alarm. A face hovered in a swirling green vortex in the middle of the sky above him.

"Tommy! I have chosen you!"

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Tommy screamed as a sharp green beam hit him in the chest. His vision blurred and he disappeared from the alley, appearing in a dark and smoky room.

"What do you think?" Rita asked Baboo and Squat after Tommy had arrived. The two crowded around and nodded in approval.

"He's perfect," Squat said.

"Oh! Oh! He's alive!" Baboo said as Tommy sat up. His eyes flashed red and he cocked his head to the side to inspect his surroundings.

"How can I serve my empress?" Tommy asked, spotting Rita.

"Now, as a Power Ranger, you can enter the command centre and destroy Zordon," Rita explained, "and then the Power Rangers - Jason, the red Ranger. Zack, the black Ranger. Kimberly, the Pink Ranger. Billy, the blue Ranger. Trini, the yellow Ranger, and Nuala, the silver Ranger. Now prepare to receive the sixth power coin and become my Green Ranger!"

Tommy held out his hand and a small power coin with the emblem of a dragon's foot print appeared in the palm.

"And now, morph into the Green Ranger!" Rita exclaimed.

A cloud of smoke covered Tommy, and when it cleared he had adorned a Green Ranger spandex suit, equipped with gold armour plated shoulder pads.

"To the fall of Zordon and the destruction of the Power Rangers," Tommy said, raising his fist into the air.

"You know what to do," Rita whispered.

Tommy nodded. "Your wish is my command, Empress," he said. A shimmer of green covered his body, and he disappeared once more.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Zack and Jason, both of whom had agreed to help Billy clean the Rad Bug - a car he had invented - looked up as they heard joyous laughter from across the road. They watched as Nuala and Ciaran drew closer to their home, and burst into their front garden - with Ciaran declaring himself the champion of the race.

"Hey guys, having fun?" Jason called over.

"I was when I was winning," Nuala called back. "Give me a few minutes to change and get Ellis, and I'll be over."

"Cool. See you soon," Zack said. "All right, little man," he added, raising his hand at Ciaran.

"Hey," Ciaran replied. He waved at Zack and then disappeared into his house. Nuala following behind him. "Mum, we're - whoa!"

Nuala laughed as Chaos knocked her brother to the floor and started to lick his face. Ciaran squirmed and tried to push the dog off, but was weak from all his laughter. "Mum? Ellis?" she called, stepping over the pair, and walking into the kitchen.

She found Ellis in front of the TV watching cartoons, while her mother worked in the kitchen. She was wearing her cooking apron, and the island was full of flour.

"What's going on?" Ciaran asked, following his sister into the room. He had managed to get Chaos off of him, and let the dog go outside to Ceaser to work off some of his steam and energy. "What are you making?"

"I've been using the fruit that was left over," Lana said. "It'll only end up in the trash otherwise. So, I've made Cherry pie, Apple pie, and Banana cream pie -" Ciaran licked his lips. He loved Banana Cream pie. "Blueberry pie. Strawberry and Raspberry pie, and Blackberry and Blueberry pie."

Ciaran paused and glanced at his sister. "It's no wonder we're fat," he teased, poking Nuala's stomach.

"Speak for yourself, pudding," Nuala replied, poking him back. Ciaran doubled over and squirmed away; Nuala chuckled and poked him again, before walking away and scooping Ellis up off of the floor. "Hey Tiger Toes, you wanna go see the others?"

Ellis gurgled and sucked on his fist. He was very slow at developing, since speaking his proper first word a few weeks ago; he had reverted back to gurgling instead. Nuala had taken him to the doctors and explained her anxiety about his late development, but they had calmly told her that there was nothing to be worried about.

"Hey, Ci, you coming?" Nuala asked, crabbing Ellis's hat and covering his head with it. She always made sure he was wearing a hat when they left the house because the Californian sun was warmer than the Irish sun that she was used too.

"Uh, no," Ciaran said, eyeing the banana cream pie his mother had just pulled from the oven.

Nuala smirked and shook her head. "Watch your waistline," she warned. "Or I may need to start up the morning exercise club again."

"No! No, I'll be good."

Nuala chuckled and headed for the door. "I'll be back later," she called over her shoulder.

"Have fun," Lana called, before the distinctive click of the front door told her that Nuala had left.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Cooing at Ellis, Nuala crossed the road and found the others already at Billy's. "Hey, what's up," she said, shifting her son her to her other hip.

"Hey, Nuala, just in time," Zack said, throwing a rag in her direction. "Just grab a rag and join in!" he pointed at the Rad Bug.

"Nice try," Nuala said, throwing the rag back. "But there are only three people I clean up after. Myself, him," she nodded at Ellis, "and Ceaser. What's wrong, Kim?"

"Tommy," Trini answered.

"The guy I fought in the competition," Jason said, reminding Nuala of the competition she had missed the previous day because Ellis had been sick.

"Hey, that reminds me, how did you do in that?" Nuala asked.

"I tied."

"Really?" Nuala asked, surprised. She was sure that Jason would win. "At least you tried, that's important."

Jason cracked a smile and shook his head.

"He was supposed to meet me at the youth centre, and he never showed," Kim explained.

"That doesn't sound like Tommy," said Nuala, "yeah, OK, I don't know him that well, but I didn't get the impression that he would stand someone up like that. He was really in to meeting you."

"And maybe something came up," Zack added. "He just couldn't let you know."

Kim nodded. That was a fair point.

Suddenly Jason's communicator beeped, alerting them all to a call from Alpha.

"_R-R-R-Rangers. R-R-Rangers. You read me? Please come in," _said the little robot.

"Alpha, you're breaking up. I can't hear you," said Jason, tapping his communicator.

Nuala frowned and turned to Billy to find him doing the same. "What's wrong?" she asked, noticing the worried expression on her friends face.

"The communicators," Billy said. "They're nonfunctional. Teleportation's down."

"Guys, something is seriously wrong," Trini said as her communicator too, failed to work.

"We have to get to the command centre," Jason said.

"The rad bug," Billy said, pointing to the car.

"It's the only way to fly," Zack agreed.

Nuala eyed the car. "There is no way that thing can hold all of us," she said to Billy.

"You'd be surprised," Billy replied.

Nuala looked like she wanted to argue, but held it back as Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her around to the side of the car. Whilst Zack, Kim and Trini slid into the back, Jason stepped back and allowed Nuala to get in with Ellis - there wasn't much time to run him back across the road and explain what was happening - Jason then got in beside his friend.

As the door closed behind Jason, Nuala noticed that the front seat had been created to hold two people rather than just one.

"Buckle up, everyone," Billy instructed.

Carefully Jason helped Nuala slid the seat belt across both hers and Ellis's stomachs, and clipped into the box between her side of the seat and Billy's seat. Ellis, meanwhile, looked around the inside of the car with a look of curiosity and fascination. He had been inside a car before, but never something like this.

"Alpha sound upset," Trini said from over Nuala's shoulder.

"Yeah, I think something bad is going down," Jason agreed.

"I bet Rita's up to something," added Kim.

"Can't this go any faster, Billy?" Zack asked.

"I could," Billy replied with a slight nod. "But I don't think faster is appropriate with a baby on board."

Nuala flashed Billy a smile, and hugged Ellis closer to her. "Thank you," she said to the blue Ranger. "But if you can get us there faster without crashing, then by all means go for it," she added, as she too was worried about Alpha.

"Are you sure?" Billy asked, looking uncertain.

"Mhm-hmm," Nuala nodded.

Billy sighed and turned the wheel, shifting the car into the next gear and plummeting towards the ground. The Rangers shouted in surprise.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Arriving at the command centre, the Rangers clambered out of the rad bug and stopped dead as the destroyed command centre came into view. The whole control panel had been ripped out, and small fires had sprouted all over the places. Zordon was missing from his tube, and Alpha was lurched over the controls sparking and twitching.

"Look at this place!" Jason gasped, following Billy up onto the podium.

"The control panels have been ripped out," Trini said, pointing out the obvious."

"Aw man, this place is totaled!" Zack said jumping up onto the podium behind Jason and Billy.

"Alpha!" Nuala gasped, rushing over to the little robot. She pulled him upright and screamed in surprise as he sparked, almost shocking her. She withdrew quickly and cradled Ellis close to her, careful to let him get near the fires or electrified wires of the control panel.

"You guys, Zordon's gone," Kim said, pointing at the tube.

"Alpha, what happened?" Billy asked, turning the little robot around.

"Power Rangers! Power Rangers, come in! I need help!" the little robot said, repeating the same words he had said over the comms link.

"What's happening to him, Billy?" Nuala asked, nervously.

"Someone must've fed a virus into his data banks," Billy explained. He spotted a circular disk in his back, and tried to pull it out. "I can't... I can't grip it!" he said.

"Hold him," Nuala said, passing Ellis to Kim and inspecting the device. She managed to pinch the frame of the device between her fore-finger and thumb and pulled. The device moved and then sprang free.

Alpha slumped and then sprang up again. He turned around and beamed as he saw the Rangers. "Power Rangers, you're here," he said, excitedly.

"Alpha, who did this to you?" Zack asked. "Where's Zordon?"

"All my memory chips have been scrambled," Alpha answered. "No recollection. Was barely able to contact you."

"Somebody obviously broke into the command centre," Jason said.

"Look at this," Kim said, spying the viewing globe. A giant golden monkey walking around downtown Angel Grove reflected back at the team.

"It's Goldar," Zack said.

"Alpha, we have to stop him," said Jason. "You'll be all right?"

"I'm semi-operational," Alpha said.

"You'll be OK to take care of Ellis too?" Nuala asked. "Because I can send him home to Ciaran and my Mum if not."

"Yes, Nuala, he'll be fine," said Alpha. "You take care of Goldar. I'll try to locate Zordon."

Jason put his hand on Nuala's shoulder and nodded once. Nuala took this has a reassuring sign and kissed her baby's forehead as she handed him over to Alpha. "Mummy will be back soon," she promised, turning away and preparing to morph.

"It's Morphin' time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The second they arrived, the Rangers were surrounded by the putty patrol and dealt with them easily. As she fought Nuala sensed a strong presence of evil watching her from afar, looking up she gasped as someone in Green spandex stood on the cliff over-looking the fighting.

"To the beginning of the end for the Power Rangers," he said, raising his fist into the air.

"Whoa-oh! This is going to be fun!" Squat shouted, jumping around excitedly. "Go get them, Goldar!"

"Get the, Putty Patrollers!" Goldar yelled as he trampled around the mountainside. "Get them all!"

"Come on, Rangers. We've got to keep it together!" Jason said, as he and the others ducked to avoid the falling rocks of the mountain top that Goldar had just obliterated. "We got to stop Goldar! We need Dinozord power now!"

There was a high-pitched screech and the Dinozords rolled into view. Kicking off from the ground the Rangers landed in the cockpits of their respective Zords, and initiated the combination sequence using their power crystals.

Goldar roared and raised his sword at the Megazord.

"We need the power sword!" Jason said, summoning the Megazords weapon from the skies. With their weapon raised, the Rangers forced the Megazord forward and blocked an attack from Goldar. The two fought back and forth, before Goldar jumped backwards to avoid a blow, he flipped over several times and then landed on his feet.

"Prepare to feel the wrath of Rita Repulsa," Goldar threatened, raising the sword again. He laughed and slashed his sword across the Megazord - the Rangers blocked with their own sword, and circled around Goldar, their blades still locked.

Suddenly Goldar disappeared, and the Rangers stumbled in their surprise.

Movement from the ground caught Nuala's attention and she looked down. There he was again - the individual in green spandex. "Guys, check it out!" she said, pointing him out to her friends.

"Who is that?" Billy asked.

The green individual jumped into the air and landed on the head of the Megazord. "Time to meet the green Ranger," he said, letting himself into the cockpit. "Long live Empress Rita!" he said, pulling open the door and punching Trini into the controls.

The cockpit exploded and the Rangers ejected.

"You're finished!" the green Ranger said, following them and attacking the moment he landed on his feet.

Nuala screamed and rolled aside to avoid being trampled, whilst Zack jumped over her and took on the green Ranger.

"Nuala, you OK?" Kim asked as she and Trini helped the silver Ranger back to her feet.

"Yeah," Nuala said her breathing fast.

"Come on, let's help the others," said Trini, leading the two girls' forward. They aimed individual kicks and punches at the green Ranger as Billy and Zack parted. The new ranger easily blocked them, and tossed the three girls' aside like they were rag dolls.

Jumping up, the Green ranger wrapped his ankles around Nuala's shoulders and then grabbed Billy in his arms. He spun mid-air and knocked both rangers down, before turning onto Trini and Kim as the two girls jumped at him from behind. He blocked their punches, and aimed a kick for Kim's side, whilst defending himself against Trini's weapon attacks.

Raising his sword, Zack ran at the green Ranger, but was easily defeated. Kim jumped back to her feet and rushed forward to help her friend while Jason and the others regrouped and attacked in turn. But the green Ranger was an easy match for them, and matched each of their moves to the 'T'.

"You OK?" Trini asked landing beside Kim, and helping her sit up.

"You think you're so tough, take me on," Jason challenged, facing off against the new guys.

"With pleasure!" the new guy said, slashing at Jason with his sword.

"Jase!" Nuala squealed, catching her friend as he stumbled back into her. There was a gash in his suit, but he seemed relatively OK.

Jason patted Nuala's shoulder, thanked her for catching him, and then rushed off to meet the green Ranger in hand-to-hand combat. The two fared well against each other, matching one another's attack hit-for-hit. Soon the green Ranger got the upper hand, and blocked Jason's punches; he threw Jason's hands into the air and punched him twice in the stomach.

"Jason!" Billy said, as he and the others rushed to cover their friends.

"That doesn't look good," said Zack as the green Ranger powered up an energy sphere and fired it at the team. He laughed as the ground beneath their feet exploded and they were sent reeling through the air.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Whilst Ellis played quietly with a few old toys that Nuala had left at the command centre during her last long visit, Alpha tried his very best to find Zordon. He had searched every crack in the morphin' grid for the great sage, but was unable to locate his energy source. On the viewing globe he could see that the Rangers were in trouble, but he was unable to help them without Zordon there to tell him what to do.

Glancing over at the 12-month-year-old, Alpha sighed and turned his attention back to the misty tube. The mist still surrounded the cylinder but it was sparking with ripples of sliver energy. He was unsure of what else to try, and knew that if he went too far, or caused an electrical explosion he could easily scare or worse - hurt Ellis, and he didn't want to upset Nuala by doing so.

"Oh, Zordon," Alpha whined, pitifully.

"Alpha..."

Jumping the little robot turned around and sighed as he found the Rangers behind him. He hadn't realised they had left the battlefield yet, but if their cuts, bruises and labored breathing was anything to go buy, it was obvious that they had taken a beating.

"Rangers," he said. "I still haven't been able to bring Zordon back."

"Keep trying," Jason replied. "We need answers now!"

"A guy in green spandex just attacked our Zords," Kim explained.

"He busted right in!" Zack exclaimed. "Do you have any idea who it was?"

"I'm sorry, Rangers, I don't," Alpha said, panicky.

"It's OK, Alpha," Nuala said, touching his shoulder comfortingly. "Hopefully Zordon will know. We just have to get him back first."

Alpha nodded and turned back to the control panel. "Right. I will keep..." he trailed off, his voice growing quieter and lower as he seemed to shut down.

"What's happening to him?" Trini asked.

"He's still not completely recovered from the computer virus," Billy explained, checking Alpha's circuitry.

"Quasi-tronic circuitry now in overload, overload," Alpha said, twitching rapidly. "Temporary shutdown! Shutdown!" he keeled over at the waist and the lights all over his metallic body switched off.

"This is bad news, guys," said Zack as Trini and Billy exchanged nervous looks and Nuala scooped up Ellis as he crawled over to her. He was chewing on the ear of an old teddy bear of Ciaran's.

"First, Zordon disappears and then this green guys shows," said Kim ticking off the tragedies on her fingers.

"And I think we only got a small sample of his true powers," Jason said.

"This is all too weird," Trini said, shaking her head. She was having a hard time coming to terms with everything that had happened.

"Do you think it was that green guy who did this to Zordon and Alpha?" Nuala asked. "I mean, he obviously has a power coin or he'd not be a Ranger, and only those with power coins can get in here."

"It does seem like the only logical explanation," Billy confirmed.

"So, what are we going to do?" Trini asked.

"Prepare ourselves," Jason said. "We don't have Zordon to help us this time."

"We'll have to do it on our own," Zack said, looking nervous.

Jason nodded and looked around at the others. Each of them looked scared, he could tell, but they were doing their hardest to not show it. "I think we've only made it through round one of what's about to be a major battle."

"Is that supposed to make us feel better?" Nuala asked, clutching Ellis close to her.

"It's to make you feel more prepared," Jason said.

"Hey, guys look," Billy said, pointing at the viewing globe. An image of the green Ranger reflected back at them. He was standing on a cliff top, overlooking Angel Grove, and was staring straight into the skies.

"_To the fall of the Power Rangers,_" he said, clenching his hand into a fist. "_I'll destroy you, one and all!"_

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 8:09pm**


	13. Tensions Run High, Part II

**Author's Note:** I think I may have developed a slight obsession with Power Rangers Zeo, as that is all I have wanted to watch in the past few days.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **ZyudenSentaiKyroyugerisawesome, I love power rangers7135** and **Twistergirl14** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

**Last Time on **_**A Dire Situation**_

_"Miss. Archer, meet Tommy Oliver."_

"_Tommy, I have chosen you!_"

"_This place is totaled!_"

"_To the beginning of the end of the Power Rangers!_"

"_We don't have Zordon to help us this time._"

"_We'll have to do it ourselves._"

"_To the fall of the Power Rangers - I'll destroy you, one and all!_"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala sat on the side of the podium. Ellis was sitting between her legs playing with a few building blocks that she had left behind a few days ago; his teddy lay abandoned on the floor beside him, but was there when Ellis wanted him back. The silver ranger picked up the ragged stuffed bear and stared at it, she remembered it as the item she had given Ciaran when he was four - she'd found it out on the trail, during one of her horse riding lessons, and had instantly thought of her brother when she'd seen it.

Ciaran had then given it to Ellis as a good luck charm. Nuala was hesitant to give it to her son, but the gesture was something that made her heart melt. Ciaran had been a loveable uncle to his nephew, and Nuala always imagined having her baby christened and making Ciaran the godfather - he was the only other person, other than her mother, that she trusted above and beyond with her son.

"Man, I wish I could get my hands on this green ranger dude," Jason said, pacing back and forth in front of Nuala. He kicked a building block with his foot and it hit the control panel sharply. There was a spark and bright particles flew into the air. Kim and Zack jumped away in surprise, as Nuala gasped and Ellis let out a small cry of panic.

"We know you're upset, Jason, but please try and calm down," Nuala said.

"Calm down?" Jason repeated. "How can I calm down in a time like this? We can't get a fix on Zordon, Alpha is offline! Without either of them we have no clue what that green guy was that attacked us."

"I'm aware of that," Nuala said, calmly. "But I'm also aware that losing my temper isn't going to solve anything. Not only are you wearing down your own energy, but you're also freaking everybody else out. We're all nervous, and we're all wishing that there was something we could do, but until we get Zordon back there aren't much we can do."

"She's right," Kim agreed, walking over. "Whoever broke in here knew exactly what they were doing. They completely trashed the controls, sent Zordon off to god only knows where, and made sure that Alpha wouldn't be able to remember anything in order to tell us what we're up against."

Jason sighed and looked between the two girls', and then down at his feet. He squatted down and picked up the building block before placing it down beside Ellis. "You're right," he nodded. "I'm sorry for making you jump."

Nuala smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand. "It's OK," she said. "I understand your nerves. How are Billy and Trini doing?" she asked.

"You making any progress, Billy?" Jason asked, straightening up. The blue and yellow Rangers were standing on the other side of the command centre with Alpha, and were trying to reboot him by removing the virus from his data banks.

"I'm doing the best I can, but I'm unfamiliar with his circuitry," Billy replied. "I'll try the subatomic manipulator."

"Let's be careful not to hurt him, Billy," said Trini, handing Billy the device he had requested.

"Trust me, Trini, he can't feel anything," Billy said, applying the blow torch to the robot again. "Even if we get him working again, there's no telling what shape his memory will be in." Suddenly Alpha lurched forward, and the lights all over him started to brighten. "Hey, he's starting up!" Billy exclaimed happily.

"Circuitry now operational," Alpha said, rolling his head around. "Operational. Dude! Dudette!" he added looking from Billy to Trini.

"Alpha, you're back!" Trini said, laughing as she hugged the robot.

"Good job, Billy," Kim called.

"All right, Alpha!" Zack grinned.

"Alpha may be OK," said Jason. "But we still have to find a way to get Zordon back, and figure out the story with that green ranger dude."

Nuala sighed and eased herself to her feet, careful not to stand on - or trip over - Ellis. The little boy looked up as his mother moved away from him, and let out a small cry of despair, his arms reach up for her to pick him up. "I'm not going anywhere, tiger toes," she said, but scooped him up nonetheless. "Hey," she said to Jason as she followed him across the command centre. "We'll get him, Jase, _you'll_ get him."

"How do you know that?" Jason asked, unsure.

"Because I know you never give up," Nuala said. "I know I haven't been in Angel Grove long enough to know all of you inside and out yet, but I've been here long enough to know that you are not a quitter. You'll find the green Ranger, and you'll get your answers. Your perseverance is something that'll win out, you'll see."

Jason sighed and stared into her eyes. She looked scared, but underneath her fear he could see determination and trust - trust in him to find the answers and make things right. He forced a smile and nodded once. "Thanks, Nuala, I appreciate the pep talk," he said.

"You're welcome," Nuala said, looking down at Ellis. "I have to get him home."

"I'll come with you," Jason said. "Not that I don't trust you alone, but there is safety in numbers."

"OK," Nuala nodded turning to the others. "We'll be back soon, guys," she said, following Jason out of the command centre.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Not long after Nuala had left, did Ciaran decide to take Chaos for a walk. He wanted to take both dogs, but his mother had never allowed him to take both out on his own, he knew she allowed Nuala to do it, but it wasn't because she trusted Nuala over him, it was mostly to do with the fact that Nuala was more commanding with the two dogs. Especially Chaos given his extreme tendencies to attack on instinct.

As he walked in the direction of the youth centre, Ciaran decided to take a short cut through the alley that was parallel to the school. It was the same one that he and Nuala had left Tommy on earlier that day, but without this short cut he'd end up walking for an extra hour just to get to the centre. He was hoping to find maybe is sister there, seeing as she had failed to come home earlier, and after checking he found that she, nor the others, were at Billy's house.

"Come on, Chaos," said Ciaran, tugging at the dogs chain. But the Rottweiler had stopped dead; his stomach brushed against the ground as he crouched down, and bared his teeth at an invisible presence ahead of him. "What is it boy?" Ciaran asked, nervously. When Chaos got like this he was hard to control.

A clap of thunder rolled over head, and Ciaran jumped in fear and surprise. He looked ahead of him to see a swirl of green, and managed to duck out of sight, dragging Chaos with him under the order that he was to relax, and then peered around the garbage can he was hiding behind. He was surprised to see Tommy behind the flicker of green light.

"Green ranger!" shouted the shrieking voice of Rita Repulsa. "You will remain here on Earth until further notice."

"Whatever pleases my empress," Tommy replied.

"Remember to keep your identity as the green Ranger a secret. No one must learn the truth."

"As you wish... my empress," Tommy said with a light nod.

"Yes! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Rita laughed before disappearing.

Ciaran bit his lower lip and pulled back as Tommy looked around him. He stared at Chaos in a confused demeanor and frantically tried to think of a way to get out of the alley without being detected. He needed to find Nuala and the other Rangers, they needed to know that there was a new Ranger - a Green Ranger - on the loose and, to make things worse, he seemed to be working for Rita.

"Well, looky who we have here, Skull."

Ciaran gasped and looked up, scared that he had been found by the infamous bullies of Angel Grove High. Bulk and Skull always would bully him when they saw him at school, and he wouldn't have put it passed them to take a swing at him whilst on the street either. Thankfully, neither of the bullies stood over him, peering around the garbage can again, Ciaran saw that Bulk and Skull were talking to Tommy and not him.

"Yeah. It's the new kid who made you look bad at school," Skull said.

"Hey! Nobody insults Bulk," the bigger of the two bullies said, circling around Tommy so that they had their backs to Ciaran. "I think you owe me an apology. Huh?"

From where he was hiding, Ciaran couldn't see much of what was going on and since Bulk and Skull had their backs to him, they were also blocking Tommy's face. But something must've spooked them as suddenly both Bulk and Skull were running backwards towards the end of the alley. Green sparks hit their feet and they were propelled into the garbage can, causing it to slide and knock Ciaran onto his stomach.

He groaned and landed on the floor in front of Tommy.

The new kid glared down at the fourteen-year-old and his dog, and curled back his upper lip into a sneer.

"Run, Chaos!" Ciaran shouted, taking off towards the alleyway. Chaos overtook him at the corner and disappeared from view, but Ciaran didn't even make it to the corner before a stream of green hit him square in the back and he disappeared. Tommy smirked and walked out of the alley, only glancing back once to see Bulk and Skull pop up out of the garbage. He chuckled and carried on his way.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Ciaran gasped as he landed on his stomach in a dark room. There was smoke all over the floor, and little lights - like stars outside of the window. The whole room was green, with a hint of gold around the structure. Picking himself up, Ciaran looked around himself and backed into a pillar.

He didn't know where he was, or how he had gotten there, and that scared him. How was he supposed to find his sister and warn her about Tommy and the green Ranger now? Did she already know he had been taken and was out there searching for him? He found that unlikely seeing as he had only just this second left Angel Grove.

Glancing down at the communicator that Billy had made him a few days ago, he remembered that Zordon had warned him to only use it in an emergency. It didn't give him the ability to morph like Nuala and Zack, but it did give him the ability to keep in contact with his sister and the other Rangers. He had intended to use it after he had got as far away from the alley as possible, but now seemed like a good a time as any.

"Nuala, it's me, Ciaran, can you hear me?" he asked, as he raised the communicator to his lips.

There was a static response, but no reply.

"Nuala, Zack, Jason? Anybody?"

Again... there was no reply.

Lowering his arm, Ciaran sighed and looked around him. He was trapped - wherever he was.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After dropping Ellis off at home, and then leaving Jason at the Youth Centre with Zack. Nuala returned to the command centre to find Billy under the control panel sorting through the wires. She also noticed that neither Kim nor Trini were present.

"Where'd everybody go?" she asked, startling Alpha and causing Billy to knock his head on the underside of the table. "Oops," she said, sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Billy said, going back to work. "And to answer your question. Zack went to meet Jason, while Trini and Kim have gone back to school."

Nuala nodded and held her hand out to Billy as he eased himself out from under the control panel. He accepted her help and straightened up. "I think I found our problem," he said, holding up two wires. "These cables and wires have been completely burned."

"Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha said, waving his hands around frantically.

"No wonder we can't contact Zordon," Nuala said.

"They'll have to be replaced before we can do anything," Billy said, looking up at the crackling tube.

"If we can get the main generator online again, I can proceed with locating Zordon," said Alpha.

"And we can repair our communicators," Billy added.

Nuala instinctively looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. She didn't realise how much she missed it right now. "Can you do it, Billy?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"Affirmative," Billy nodded. "It's just going to take time."

"Time! The one thing we don't have," Alpha sighed.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Time seemed to move slower in this dimension - or it could've been the fact that his watch had stopped working ages ago and he had just forgotten to change the batteries, however nothing seemed to be moving in this place. Sitting in the corner of the room, Ciaran wrapped his arms around his knees and hid from view. He was very good at hiding, especially when he had magically appeared in a strange place.

With his head resting on his arms, Ciaran rocked back and forth, trying to remember what had happened before he had appeared in this place. All he could recall was seeing Tommy talking to Rita and then picking on Bulk and Skull. Although he knew that Tommy was the green Ranger, he didn't want to believe that the new kid on the block would send him to this place. But there was no other explanation too it.

"Chaos!" Ciaran suddenly gasped, realising that his dog had gotten away before him. Hopefully Chaos would be smart and go home, if his mother saw the dog and not him; she would sure contact Nuala and tell her. It may have been a long shot, and while other authorizes - like the police may have thought Chaos just got away from him - Ciaran knew that his mother and sister would automatically assume foul play had been involved.

Suddenly a crash of thunder boomed around the room, and Ciaran jumped in fear. He crawled further back into his alcove and peered around the edge. A sigh escaped his mouth as he saw Jason appear in the centre of the room, and quickly bounded out to meet him. "I wouldn't touch that," he said, taking the red Ranger by surprise.

"Ciaran, what are you doing here?" Jason asked.

"I'm assuming the same thing as you," Ciaran asked. "Wondering how the hell we got here in the first place - where were you before you came here?"

"At school," Jason said. "Talking to Tommy."

"I was in an alley," Ciaran said. "I wasn't _talking_ to Tommy, but I did see him. Do you think it's a coincidence that we both were with Tommy and then we were both here?"

Jason shook his head and shook the younger lad by his shoulders. "I don't know, Ci," he said. "Nothing is making sense right now."

"Why isn't Nuala answering her communicator?"

"Because the system is down," Jason explained. "It's all down. Zordon's down too."

"Down where?"

"He's gone, Ci," said Jason. "Someone totaled the command centre. Alpha was offline for a short while, but we can't find Zordon anywhere in the morphin' grid. Billy is trying to fix everything."

Ciaran's eyes widened and he looked down at his communicator. No wonder no one had been answering his calls. "So, what's the plan on getting out of here?" he asked. "Can we teleport?"

"Sorry, buddy, with the communicators down, so are the teleportation systems," Jason said.

"Great," Ciaran said, looking around. "So we're stuck here?"

"Seems like it," Jason sighed.

"Even if your communicators could work," growled a familiar voice. "They wouldn't work in here!"

Ciaran froze as he turned around, only to come face-to-face with Goldar. He jumped and ducked behind Jason, as the red Ranger took a defensive and protective stand against the giant gold monkey.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala looked up from where she was helping Billy work on the controls as Zack, Trini and Kim arrived in the rad bug.

"Any progress reaching Zordon?" Zack asked as he piled out of the car with the two girls.

"Billy's almost got the main computer back up," Nuala replied.

"Just a couple more wires to connect and we should be getting something," Billy said, adding the last few wires to the mainframe.

"Ooh! Cross your fingers, Rangers," Alpha said, as Zack rubbed his hands excitedly. Billy secured the control panel back to the mainframe and Alpha activated the machines power. Energy rippled all over the command centre, as lights flashed to life everywhere.

"Something is happening," Billy said, looking around.

"The globe," Kim said, pointing at the sphere. It showed the green Ranger again.

"Now's our chance to nail him," Zack said, "and get to the bottom of what's going on.2

"Sub generator is now active!" Alpha confirmed. "We have partial power. I'm checking the morphin' lock now." The rangers hesitated, and then sighed in relief as Alpha managed to lock onto Zordon's energy field.

"All right! Let's morph and get this green dude," Zack said.

"Wait, what about Jason?" Nuala asked, noticing that the red Ranger wasn't there. "We can't go out there without him. We won't be at full strength. And you know how important it is to Jason on finding out who this guys is. He won't be happy that he missed his chance."

Zack sighed and raised his communicator to his lips. "Jason. Jason, come in! Do you read me, Jason?" There was no reply, save for a lot of static. "Man, these things still aren't working!"

"Where can he be?" Trini asked.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Your communicators may not work here," said Goldar, mockingly, "but your power morpher might." He held up the morpher and Jason made a lunge for it - Goldar blocked him and smacked him across the jaw.

"Jason!" Ciaran gasped, helping his friend back up to his feet. There was a red mark and bruise already forming on Jason's jaw, but the red Ranger paid no attention to it.

"I want my power morpher back!" he told Goldar. "Hand it over!"

"Now you are demanding," Goldar said. "Soon, you will be begging. If you were worthy you would take it!"

"Don't listen to him, Jase," Ciaran said. "There is no one more worthy of being the red Ranger than you."

"Silence, kid!" Goldar shouted, grabbing Ciaran by the scruff of the neck and tossing him to the side. Jason reacted defensively and aimed a kick for the golden monkey - Goldar blocked and then grabbed Jason's punch and forced him to his knees, with a swift twist of his wrist, he flipped the red Ranger over onto his back.

"Jason!" Ciaran shouted, cradling his shoulder. He had smacked it against one of the stone pillars and it was now throbbing. He was pretty sure that it wasn't broken, but it still hurt.

"Don't count me out yet, Goldar!" Jason said pushing himself to his feet. He jumped into the air and kicked Goldar in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

The monkey laughed and prepared for battle.

"Ciaran, stay out of the way, OK?" Jason warned.

"No problem," said Ciaran, scurrying back into his alcove, from where he could watch the battle without being involved.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"We can't wait any longer!" Zack said. "We need to go now. Jason's just going to have to catch up."

Nuala hesitated. She knew how important the identity of the green Ranger was to Jason, and she didn't feel right about leaving him out on one of their biggest battles as Rangers, but Zack was right, they couldn't wait around any longer. The more they worried about Jason, and his whereabouts, the more damage the green ranger was doing.

"OK," Nuala said, nodding. "Let's got."

"Good. Now, remember, Alpha, try to contact Jason," said Zack, "and have him meet us at the bluff."

"You got it, Rangers," Alpha confirmed.

"All right, then, It's morphin' time!" Zack said. "Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

Wielding the sword of darkness, the Green Ranger attacked the core rangers as soon as their appeared. Drawing their power swords each of the five defended themselves. Nuala raised her to defend an attack to her head, and then delivered several kicks and punches to the chest - but the green Ranger deflected her attacks with ease.

"Nuala!" Billy called, rushing forward to help his friend. He swung his sword at the green Ranger, but was repaid with a kick to the chest. He stumbled backwards, and then hit the floor as the silver Ranger was thrown into him.

"Sorry," Nuala apologized rolling off of Billy, as Zack rushed at the green Ranger. He managed to hold his own, but not for long and was tossed aside like a rag doll within seconds.

"Zack!" Kim and Trini called, running over to cover their fallen friend. Nuala and Billy quickly joined them.

"Feel the power from the sword of darkness," the green Ranger said, wielding the sword above his head. He struck it into the ground and sent the rangers reeling through the air as the grounded exploded underfoot. "All right, Power Rangers. Now I'm going to finish you!"

"Mastodon!" Zack shouted, calling out to his dino Zord.

"Triceratops!" Billy called, following Zack's lead.

Nuala, Kim and Trini exchanged looks, nodded and summoned their own Zords to their disposal.

"Pterodactyl!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

As the Dino Zords grew closer, all five Rangers jumped up into their respective cockpits. Unfortunately without a red Ranger, they couldn't form the power Megazord.

"Be careful, guys," Zack warned. "Without Jason we can't form the Megazord."

"Five Zords have got to be better than one," Nuala replied. "We may not have the power to defeat him, but at least we'll be able to overpower and outnumber him."

"She's got a point," Trini agreed.

"Look out!" Kim shouted, closing the wings of her Zord and blocking an attack from the sword of Darkness.

Nuala felt her Zord rumble as it let out a loud growl. She flipped a few switches on her control panel and blasted the green Ranger with a blast of frozen air. "How about a little help with the deep freeze, Zack?" she asked her friend.

"All over it, Nuala," Zack said, blasting frozen air out of the trunk of his Zord.

Shivering and clearly overpowered by the fact that he didn't have a Zord at his disposal, the green Ranger drew back and growled. "You haven't seen the last of the green Ranger," he warned. "But if you ever wish to see your friends again, you'll give up now!"

"Wait, what?" Trini asked, leaning forward as the green Ranger disappeared. "What did he mean by 'if you ever want to see your friends again'?" she wondered out loud.

"I dunno, Trini," Billy said. "Let's get back to the command centre and see if Alpha has anything."

"Yeah, hopefully he's found Jason," said Zack.

"And Zordon," Kim added.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala sighed as she returned to command centre to find that Alpha hadn't been able to find either Jason or Zordon, although the familiar shape of the great sage's face was trying to appear in the misty cylinder above them. "Come on, Alpha," she said, encouraging.

"The sub generator has locked onto something," Alpha said, excitedly. "We shall know momentarily who it is."

"I hope it's Zordon," said Zack, looking up at the tube. "We need him bad! That green guy was a lot stronger this time."

"Unfortunately, I have more negative news," Billy said walking over. "I haven't been able to locate Jason anywhere."

"Great," Trini sighed. "Where could he be?"

"What if he's not on Earth?" Nuala asked. "Or in Angel Grove, for that matter?"

"Then where could he be?" Kim asked.

"Well, believe it or not, there is more to this planet than just Angel Grove," Nuala said. "What if he's been taking somewhere outside of Angel Grove - he doesn't necessarily have to be in the states anymore, or even on Earth for that matter. We know there is life on the moon, Rita's up there. If she's behind this green Ranger, like we think she is, then isn't it possible that she's taken Jason?"

"What would she want with Jason?" Billy asked.

"We're not at full strength without the whole team," Nuala explained, "and many people believe if you take out the red Ranger, the rest of us will fall. Maybe Rita thinks the same way. She's taken Jason, and has either already eliminated him, or is going to eliminate him after she's destroyed us."

"Is that possible?" Kim asked.

"I am starting to believe that anything is possible," Nuala said.

Billy nodded, and walked back to the controls. "I'll give it a shot," he said. "But if I want to scan the moon without detection it's going to take a while."

"If Rita is behind this," said Zack, "she's doing some serious damage!"

Trini and Kim nodded in agreement, as Nuala walked over to where Billy was standing in hopes of helping. She hated feeling useless and vulnerable, and with the green Ranger running amok in the city, and no leader or mentor to help them, that is exactly how she was feeling.

"Power Rangers," boomed Zordon's voice from the tube. The team of five jumped and looked up, excitedly and expectantly. "I am... in the Q N... sectory... of sys..."

"You almost got him, Alpha!" Zack called over his shoulder.

"Hold on, Zordon!" Trini begged.

"You must... ware of Rita's evil green Ranger..." Zordon said, as he continued to flicker in and out of existence.

"Ai-yi-yi! I've lost him!" Alpha exclaimed.

"Damn it!" Zack muttered, kicking the underside of the mainframe.

Nuala run a hand through her hair as Trini looked helplessly up at the tube where Zordon usually resided.

"Zordon, we need you!" the yellow Ranger said, almost tearfully.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"You know, Jason, if you had this power coin, you and your little friend there," he nodded in the direction that Ciaran was hiding, "could get out of here. Haha Haha!" he laughed darkly.

"What's your point?" Jason asked, watching as Goldar dropped the power morpher onto the floor.

"Come and get it," Goldar said. "If you're brave enough."

Jason hesitated. He needed his morpher to fight Goldar, but he didn't want to risk Ciaran getting hurt. The kid had already injured his shoulder, and was now doing all he could to hide from any more serious injuries - not to mention Nuala was going to hit the roof when she found out what had really happened to her brother. She wouldn't necessarily take it out on him, but he didn't want to come face-to-face with an extremely angry mama bear.

Watching from his safety spot, Ciaran eye the power morpher that Goldar had dropped. If he could get to it, and get it to Jason then Jason would have the ability to morph and the weapons to destroy Goldar, or even hold him off long enough so they could get out of there.

Easing himself out of his alcove, Ciaran waited and watched as Jason and Goldar fought. He tried to get Jason's attention, to try and get him to draw Goldar away from the power morpher so he could get in and retrieve it.

Catching on fast to Ciaran's plan, Jason tried to draw Goldar away from the power morpher. But the giant monkey seemed to have guessed the plan and swung wildly around, driving his sword into Ciaran.

The little boy gasped as it seared straight through his T-shirt, and cut open the skin on his stomach. He screamed in agony and fell to the floor.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**There is a new poll on my profile - it links up to this series - please take it. Thank you.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 12:06pm**


	14. School Of Thought, Part III

**Author's Note:** I watched the Power Rangers MMPR movie the other night, and I really want to write a sub season for Nuala based on it. But I will only do it if you guys want me too. There is a poll on my profile for it, so go take it.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **M0nsters** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"I've enjoyed this so much, I'm sorry to see it end," Goldar said, his sword wavering over Jason. Behind him, clutching his stomach wound through his blood-soaked t-shirt was Ciaran Archer. "But when my Empress commands..." he laughed and raised his sword, ready for the final strike, "I obey!"

Goldar's sword struck the dimension's floor, as Jason rolled aside at the last second and dove back under the smoke. He rolled to a stop, not that far from Ciaran and observed the younger boy's injuries. They did not look good.

"You'll be OK," Jason promised Ciaran quietly. "I'll get you out of here."

"You have to tell Nuala who the Green Ranger is," Ciaran said, his voice filled with pain.

Jason reached out to grab his hand, but could barely reach. "You can tell her yourself," he said, falling silent as Goldar passed nearby. He kept striking the floor with the tip of his blade in hopes of finding Jason.

Ciaran swallowed and closed his eyes against the pain in his stomach. He didn't want to die, but he knew unless he got to emergency services soon death would be his only option.

"There is no escape, Jason!" Goldar growled.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Come on, Alpha, you almost had a lock on Zordon," Zack said as the little robot worked as hard and fast as he could. Zordon had briefly appeared to him and the others, before disappearing again as the computer lost the trace they had.

"I'm hurrying, Rangers," Alpha said.

"The sub generator's losing power," Billy said, moving over to the second computer.

"Zordon's signal is fading," Alpha said.

"Hurry, Alpha," Trini begged.

"Switching to alternate energy source," Alpha confirmed.

"We're still not getting enough power," said Billy. "Zordon's signal's too weak."

"So, what, we've lost him?" Nuala asked.

"Affirmative," Billy nodded.

Nuala hung her head in disappointment.

"In that brief second he was back, he was trying to tell us something about the Green Ranger," Zack said to his friends.

"Which means he's probably involved in all this," Trini said.

"He is the only other person, other than us that can get in here," Kim agreed.

"The computer is still trying to locate Jason," Alpha said. "Unfortunately, it's coming up with nothing."

"I have a real bad feeling about this," Kim said, hugging her arms around herself.

"Something isn't right," Zack agreed. "We're going to have to split up and try to find Jason."

"I have to go check on my Mum," Nuala said, "but I'll meet you guys at the Youth Centre."

"OK," Zack said. "Be careful!"

"You too," Nuala called as she hurried out of the command centre. She really missed teleporting.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala smiled as Chaos and Ceaser met her at the gate once she had arrived home. "Hey boys," she said, petting each of them as she carefully let herself in. She made sure to lock the gate behind her, and then took the dogs back inside with her. "Mum, Ci, I'm back!"

"Mummy!" Ellis cooed as he crawled out of the living room. Nuala smiled and scooped him up, tickling his stomach to make him laugh.

"Hey, little Tiger Toes," Nuala said. "You been a good boy for Nana?" Ellis blew a raspberry and then laid his head on his mother's shoulder. Nuala smiled and hissed his head as she walked back into the living room. She found her mother standing at the island in the kitchen, phone in hand. "What's wrong?"

"That was Ciaran's friend Matthew," Lana said. "He hasn't seen Ciaran since school this morning."

Nuala frowned. "I thought you said that Ciaran had gone to meet him at the youth centre earlier?" she asked.

"He had," Lana confirmed. "He took Chaos with him."

"But Chaos is here," Nuala said, pointing at the dog. "Unless we got a new dog in the space of time it's been since I was last here."

Lana shook her head. "No, Chaos came home at least an hour ago. I thought he'd gotten away from Ciaran, and he was right behind him, but he hasn't come home yet."

"What do you mean he hasn't come home yet?" Nuala asked, worried. "Where could he be?"

"I don't know," Lana said. "That's why I'm calling his friends. Have you seen him? Has he been to the command centre?"

Nuala shook her head. "The last I saw Ciaran was when we got home from school," she said. "Have you called Ernie to see if he is at the youth centre?"

"I've tried everywhere," Lana said, putting the phone receiver down. "Even the school."

"This is just great," Nuala said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is all I need."

"What are you talking about?" Lana asked.

"I already have a missing person to find," Nuala said. "Jason is missing. No one has seen him since I left him at the Youth Centre earlier."

"Have you called the police?" Lana asked.

"Did you about Ciaran?"

Lana shook her head and then grabbed the phone for a second time. Since Ciaran was a minor she had to call in Angel Grove Police Department to help her find him, not only was a minor, but he was also still very new to the city and could've easily become lost.

"I'm going to take to the dogs," Nuala said. "Maybe they can sniff him out or something. Can you watch Ellis until I get back?"

"Yes, yes," Lana said, taking her grandson in to her arms. "Hello, yes, this is Lana Archer, I'd like to report missing persons..." she added as someone answered the phone from the other side.

With her mother on the phone, Nuala turned her back on the kitchen and walked out into the hall. She grabbed the two leads from behind the door and whistled for the dogs. They bounded out to meet her and she clipped the chains onto their collars.

"Alright, boys," Nuala said, kneeling down in front of them. "We have to find Ciaran, OK? Let's go."

She opened the door and stepped out.

The dogs followed obediently behind her.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Ernie frowned as he listened to every word Kimberly told him. She was looking for Jason, having not seen him since earlier that same day. It was the same story that she had just received from Lana Archer - Nuala's mother - about her son Ciaran. Ernie was rather fond of both Ciaran and Nuala, despite them having not been in Angel Grove for more than two weeks yet. They were regular customers, and good kids.

"That's the second missing person I have been asked about today," said Ernie, causing the pink Ranger to look at him questionably.

"Second?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, Lana Archer was just one the phone," Ernie said. "She's looking for her son, Ciaran, he hasn't been home for a while and she's starting to get worried, especially since the dog got home before he did. Apparently it's uncommon for the dogs to leave either of her children behind."

"I wonder if Nuala is aware of this," Kim said. "She's gone home to check on her family, so I'm pretty sure she knows now."

"If she's at home then her mother has probably told her," Ernie said, nodding. "I hope they find him soon."

"Yeah, me too," Kim agreed. "Listen, Ernie, if you see Jason, could you tell him I'm looking for him."

"Sure thing, Kimberly," Ernie said, wavering her off.

"Thanks," Kim said, walking backwards away from the bar. She jumped and spun around as she walked into somebody, and was mid-apology when she saw it was Tommy. After their run in yesterday at the school, she was a little hesitant around him. Especially since he had come off abrupt with her. "Tommy. Tommy, wait. Have you seen Jason around?"

Tommy paused and turned back to the young brunette. "As a matter of fact I waited for him after school, and he never showed," he said.

"Weird. That's not like him," Kim said.

"And let me guess," Tommy said, almost mockingly. "You're worried, right? That is what you do best, isn't it, Kimberly?"

Kim frowned as Tommy pushed away from her, and stalked away. Pausing only to glare at Zack as he arrived.

"What's with him?" Zack asked.

"I wish I knew," Kim replied. "Did you find anything?"

"I checked everywhere," Zack said, shrugging. "No one has seen Jason."

"Same here. It's funny. Tommy said he was supposed to meet Jason after school but he never showed," said Kim.

"That's bogus," Zack defended. "I know Jason was there."

"Then you talk to Tommy," Kim said. "He probably thinks I'm making this up so I have something to say to him."

"Come on, we'll catch him outside," Zack said, taking her hand and leading her out of the Youth Centre.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Upon reaching the park, Nuala let both Ceaser and Chaos off of their leads. The two dogs bolted across the green, barking and snarling at something that Nuala couldn't see - she followed at a brisk pace, turning the corner in time to see Chaos baring his teeth at a familiar face.

"Chaos, heel!" Nuala shouted, but the dog refused to back down. Nuala looked around and found that Ceaser was also bearing his teeth at Tommy. "Ceaser, Chaos, heel!" she said, raising her voice.

Ceaser whined and walked back to Nuala's side, dropping his back end down onto the floor.

"Chaos, heel!" Nuala shouted for a third time. Chaos snapped at Tommy, but returned to Nuala's side. "Tommy, are you OK? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"You should keep those mutts on a leash," Tommy snapped.

Ceaser lunged forward as Tommy tried to get close to Nuala. It was obvious to him and Chaos that something was terribly wrong with this new human, not only that but they didn't recognise him as one of their mistress friends.

Nuala frowned as Ceaser, and now Chaos kept Tommy at bay. The way the dogs were acting was like Tommy was an enemy or something. She remembered when she was little, when she and her family had first bought Chaos and Ceaser into their home. Her father had warned her about needing a firm hand in training them, and had taught her all there was to know about Rottweiler's.

A Rottie was exceptionally hard to train; they needed to be taught the basics of living with humans, and needed to understand that they weren't in charge of the human but rather the other way around. It had taken a lot of work to get the whole family used to the idea that they would need to be stern and strict with the dogs, there was no time to falter in their ownership, or show them weakness. It was OK to show them love and compassion, and it was fine to play with them too, but if weakness in the ranks was shown, and the dogs got it in their heads that they were the leaders, then pandemonium would occur.

"Tommy, are you OK?" Nuala asked, unsure.

Tommy glared at her from behind her Rottweiler barricade. "I am fine," he answered, almost monotone. "But you won't be. You can't hide behind your flea-ridden bodyguards forever."

"Hey, who the hell do you think you are?" Nuala snapped. No one insulted her family, and Chaos and Ceaser were as much part of her family as her mother, brother and son were.

Tommy smirked and then walked away. Chaos and Ceaser looked like they wanted to take off after him, but without a proper command from Nuala they stayed guard in front of her. When Tommy was out of sight, Nuala knelt down and clipped the individual chains back into the dog's collars; she then straightened up and looked down at them.

"Come on, you two," she said. "Time to go home. Maybe Mum has something on Ciaran."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Jason grunted as Goldar swept his feet out from underneath him, knocking him to the floor. He landed near Ciaran, and looked to the side. The kid was almost blue around the lips, a clear sign of blood loss.

"Yes, Jason, he doesn't have much time left," Goldar said. "You're pretty little Silver Ranger is going to be so upset that she won't know right from wrong. Your little stunt with her brother is going to cost you a Ranger."

"It's not me that Nuala is going to be looking too for revenge, Goldar," Jason said. "You're the one who harmed her brother. You're the one she's going to come after."

Goldar laughed, almost mockingly. "Let her come," he said. "I'll run her through too."

Jason shook his head and balled his hands into fists. He had to keep one step ahead of Goldar at all times, not only did his life depend on him, but so did Ciaran's. Glancing at his communicator, Jason wished that his friends would quickly fix the link between it and the teleportation system, just enough for him to be able to send both himself and Ciaran back to the safety of the command centre, once there Ciaran could get the help he needed, and he could fill the others in on everything that had had happened so far.

"You're not begging me for mercy," Goldar said, his sword never wavering. "Because you know I'd never grant it."

"Goldar, stop," the Green Ranger said, appearing behind the giant golden monkey.

"What are you doing here?" Goldar demanded. "I thought Rita wanted me to destroy him?"

"She wants that pleasure to be mine," the Green Ranger said, "and has ordered me personally to see to his end."

Goldar nodded and disappeared in a flurry of flame.

"So, we meet again," the Green Ranger said once Goldar was gone. "I've been looking forward to this."

"You wear a Green Ranger costume yet your loyalties with Rita," Jason said, circling around the green ranger. He had to keep this new enemy away from Ciaran, despite the boy already dying from his wounds. Another strike from the Green Ranger could prove fatal.

"I am her Green Ranger, and she is my Empress."

"She's evil!"

"Yeah, and so am I."

The Green ranger charged at Jason, kicking him in the side and aiming a blow to his head. Jason blocked the kick and ducked under the punch, spinning around and facing the green ranger again. He held his fists up to protect himself, and then lunged with a spin kick. The green ranger blocked the attack and kicked Jason in the chest, sending him once again to the floor.

"Soon you and your friends will be a memory," the Green Ranger laughed.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"We couldn't find Jason," Kim told Trini, Billy and Alpha.

"We had to leave without him," Zack agreed.

"We couldn't locate him here either," Trini sighed.

"I just hope he's OK," Kim said.

"How long until the computer's ready to locate Zordon?" Zack asked as Alpha passed.

"Fifteen point two minutes," Alpha answered.

"I did it," Billy said, returning to the group. He was holding his communicator in his hand. "I fixed our wrist communicators."

"That's great, Billy," Trini said.

"Now we can get a fix on Jason and teleport him back here," Billy said, inputting Jason's data into the computers.

"Can you do that for Ciaran too?"

The Rangers and Alpha jumped as Nuala appeared behind them. They had failed to hear her come in, and were both surprised and shaken by her sudden appearance.

"Sorry," Nuala apologized.

"Are you OK?" Trini asked, putting her hand on Nuala's shoulder. She knew how much of a family-orientated kind of girl the silver Ranger was, and couldn't begin to understand the turmoil and anguish Nuala must've been going through while searching for her brother. Searching for a friend was one thing, but a family member was a whole different ball game.

Nuala shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself. "There is an AMBER alert out for Ciaran," she explained. "But I have a feeling that we'd have a better chance of finding him."

"I'll try," Billy said. "I'll start a search for him, just like I have Jason."

"Thanks, Billy," Nuala said, trying her hardest to sound and look hopeful. She hated the idea that her brother had been kidnapped, and the image of him being hurt had plagued her since she had spoken with the police half an hour ago and given her statement on when she had last seen her brother.

"We have partial power in the main computer," Billy said as he worked quickly to locate both Jason and Ciaran. "We'll have to split it to fuel both searches."

"Can you teleport them here?" Trini asked her arm around Nuala's shoulders.

"Yeah. It's just going to take a minute," Billy confirmed. "I have to feed their coordinates in manually."

"Is there anything we can do?" Zack asked.

"Just cross your fingers," Billy said.

"Hold on, guys," Kim said, crossing her fingers.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Jason waited for the green Ranger to get closer and then kicked him in the chest. The green Ranger stumbled away and growled at Jason as he made it back to his feet. He chuckled as Jason kicked him several times, knocking him back a few feet in the process. "You are a skilled warrior," he said.

"Let's end this," said Jason. "I don't want to fight you."

"Because you know I'll win," the green Ranger fired back.

"No! Because if you're truly a Ranger, then you'd be on Zordon's side and not Rita's!"

"Zordon is a memory," the green ranger laughed. "Rita will soon rule the world."

Jason grunted as the green ranger kicked him in the chest, and knocked him to the ground again. He landed near his morpher and snatched it up, before rolling quickly to cover Ciaran from the green Ranger.

"This is why you rangers are worthless," the green ranger said, "you're sympathy for the weak is pitiful. You have so much to lose, which is why you will never be strong enough to beat us."

"That's where you're wrong," Jason said. He checked Ciaran's neck for a pulse. There was one, but it was weak. Very weak. "You will soon see how strong compassion makes a ranger."

"Your silver ranger will not be able to fight," the Green Ranger said. "She'll be so distraught over the loss of her brother, that she will be easily eliminated."

"You underestimate her," Jason said. He didn't know Nuala all that well, but from what he had learned of her so far he could tell that she wasn't someone who knew how to quit. He had learned that she would do anything for her family, and had seen her go up against Bulk and Skull to protect her brother.

The green Ranger laughed, but soon his joyfulness turned to anger as both Jason and Ciaran disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala sighed and brushed her hair from her face. She was becoming anxious, and her heart was beating painfully inside her chest. The longer she waited for an explanation on her brother's situation, the more upset she was becoming. "Billy, I don't mean to rush you," she said. "But how much longer?"

"I've almost got it," Billy said.

"The suspense is breaking my circuit boards," Alpha said, quivering from beside Billy as he too waited for the return of Jason and Ciaran.

"Billy, hurry," said Kim, taking Alpha's position as the robot waddled away.

"We'll find him, Nuala," Trini said, rubbing the silver ranger and hugging her tightly with one arm. "Your brother will be fine in a few minutes. You'll see."

"I hope you're right, Trini," Nuala said, chewing on her fingernail.

"I've locked on," Billy announced. "They should be here right about... now!"

Nuala looked around as a flicker of red and white lights appeared in the middle of the podium. Jason appeared first and he seemed be holding on to something, when the white light cleared Nuala saw that it was Ciaran that Jason had a hold of, and that a large proportion of his left side was stained crimson.

"CIARAN!" Nuala screamed, jumping over her brother and falling to her knees beside him. She leaned over him and quickly checked for any signs that he was still alive. "He's not breathing! Why isn't he breathing?!"

"There is a pulse," Jason said, directing Nuala's fingers to the spot on Ciaran's neck. "But it's weak. We have to get him to a hospital and fast."

Nuala clutched her brother's wrist, keeping her finger on the spot where she could feel his pulse. Despite it being weak, it was the only reassurance she had that he was, at least for now, still alive. "Alpha, can you teleport us?" she asked.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha said, locking onto the coordinates of the nearest hospital.

"Be careful, Nuala," Jason warned. Nuala didn't reply she didn't even look at him. As the two siblings disappeared, Jason sighed and looked up at the rest of his friends. He should've expected Nuala's reaction, but he hadn't expected her to reject him.

Trini put her hand on his shoulder and offered him a reassuring smile. "Nuala's upset," she said. "She'll thank you when she is sure Ciaran is going to be safe."

"Yeah," Billy said. "Nuala's not the type to keep a grudge against her friends, and I'm sure you weren't the reason behind what happened to Ciaran."

"Speaking of which," said Zack, "who did hurt him?"

"Goldar," Jason answered. "I've got a lot to fill you guys in on. You're not going to believe what happened. It all started at school. I finished talking with Tommy and the next thing I know..."

"Wait a minute," Kim interrupted. "You said you were at school?"

"Tommy said you didn't show up," Zack said.

"That's weird," Jason said. He remembered clearly that he had been at school talking to Tommy before he disappeared. "Anyway, the next thing I know I'm in this weird place with Ciaran, and I'm fighting Goldar."

"Why didn't you morph?" Trini asked.

"Because somehow Goldar had my power morpher," Jason explained. "Ciaran tried to help me get it back, but that's when Goldar struck him - it all happened so fast, Ciaran didn't have a chance to get out of the way, and by the time I could warn him, it was too late."

Kim squeezed Jason's shoulder in reassurance. It was obvious that Ciaran's injury was playing on his mind.

"And then the Green Ranger shows up and we went at it," Jason continued.

"Did you find out anything more about him?" Billy asked.

"I can tell you one thing," Jason said, "He's one mean fighter."

"Man, can you believe our enemy this time is another Ranger," Zack said still in disbelief.

Suddenly the alarms blared causing all the Rangers to jump in surprise. Scrambling to their feet, each of the teens left at the command centre crowded around the viewing globe.

"What's happening?" Trini asked.

"Who is that?" Kim asked, spotting a dark-haired female in gold armour laughing on the viewing globe.

"It's the evil, stinging Scorpina," Alpha answered. "I haven't seen her in 10,000 years."

"She's launching an attack on the warehouse section of Angel Grove," Zack said.

"We've got to stop her," Trini said.

"Alpha, try and contact Nuala," Jason said. "Have her meet us there."

"Good luck, Rangers," Alpha said, setting about contacting Nuala.

Jason looked to the others. "It's morphin' time, guys," he said, reaching for his power morpher and holding it up.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Here I come!" Scorpina shouted as she jumped from the rooftop and launched herself at Jason, she swung her sword around but struck another's weapon instead of her red ranger target. "Huh - what the-?"

"Back off!" Nuala said, throwing all of her weight into her weapon and managing to shove Scorpina away from Jason. "I don't know you, but if you're involved with those that hurt my brother, then I'm going to make you regret it."

Scorpina laughed and launched herself at Nuala again. Blow after blow was deflected and matched evenly. Nuala tried for a sweep kick, but Scorpina jumped up and swung her sword at the silver Ranger the second she landed. Nuala blocked and twisted around, she pushed the sword away and aimed a punch at the villainess. Scorpina caught Nuala's wrist and slashed across her front with her sword.

Nuala groaned as she landed on her stomach.

"Nuala, are you OK?" Jason asked, helping his friend stand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nuala said, clutching her chest.

Scorpina laughed, but quickly retreated as Goldar appeared. He sneered at the Rangers, causing Nuala to take a quick step forward. She had learned from Alpha that it had been Goldar that had caused her brother harm, and she wanted to make him pay for injuring her brother.

"No, Nuala, not now!" Jason said, tightening his hold on the silver Ranger, and holding her back. "You'll get your chance!"

Goldar laughed and disappeared.

Nuala groaned and shrugged Jason off. "I have to get back to Ciaran," she said running off away from the scene.

Jason sighed and turned to the others. He knew it wasn't his fault that Ciaran had gotten hurt, but he couldn't help but feel responsible. "Let's get back to command centre," he said.

The others nodded, and teleported alongside their leader.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Lana Archer looked up as her daughter returned from battle. Nuala was supporting a few new cuts and bruises, and was wincing every time she breathed in. "What happened?" she asked, as Nuala sat down and took Ellis into her arms. "You look worse that what you did when you left."

"There's a new power player in Rita's arsenal," Nuala said. "Her name is Scorpina. I tried to take her on one-on-one, but she was too strong for me."

"What were you thinking taking her on by yourself?" Lana scolded. "You should've let the others help you."

"I wanted to avenge Ciaran," Nuala argued.

"I know," Lana said. "But you're hardly avenging him if you land in the hospital bed next to him now, are you?"

Nuala huffed and slouched in her seat. She knew her mother had a point, but she wanted to be the one to cause Rita and her minion's pain for what they had done to her brother. "How is he?" she asked after a minute's silence.

"I dunno," Lana said. "I'm still waiting to see someone."

"They should've come out by now," Nuala said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Lana asked.

"To find someone who can tell us what is happening," Nuala said.

"Nuala, just let them do their jobs."

"I need to know how extensive his injuries are," Nuala said, walking away. "I won't be long." She disappeared around the corner, and Lana leaned forward, head in her hands.

What was she going to do now?

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**I wasn't sure if I would be able to update this today, but better today than tomorrow. Tomorrow is my grandfather's funeral, so I doubt I will be on much. I have one more chapter left to write before the end of the Green with Evil arc, and then it's just about picking and choosing how many fillers there'll be in-between the major chapters. There's going to be roughly 20 - 25 chapters in each season of MMPR, mostly because I don't really want to write a 60-chaptered fic with all filler chapters.**_

_**Anyway, leave a review, and if you haven't taken the poll could you please do so. Thanks.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated**** Monday, June 16, 2014 at 05:23pm**


	15. Green Ranger Revealed, Part IV

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who sent me their condolences, and thanks to all who had the patience to wait for me during this sad time. The funeral was memorable and my grandfather would've been proud. He had an amazing send off. Hopefully as everything settles down again for me, and returns to normality, my updates will go back to being every two days. Enjoy this chapter.

**Dedications:** N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

**SHOUT OUT:** Massive shout out to my 100th reviewer - **GrapeJuice101** – You're amazing!

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Lana Archer watched the news report of the giant golden monkey she knew as Goldar trample the city. Half of downtown Angel Grove had already been demolished and the Power Rangers had yet to be seen. She knew that the Silver Ranger was somewhere in the hospital, and Nuala wouldn't have just taken off while she still had Ellis with her. But where were the others?

"It's terrible, isn't it?" an on-call nurse asked from behind Lana.

"Yes. But the Power Rangers will deal with it," Lana replied, looking back. "Any news on my son?"

"He's stable," the nurse answered. "He's lost a lot of blood, and will probably been a transfusion in order to replace it. I've been looking at his file and I see he has a very rare blood type."

"Yes, both my children are the same," Lana said. "Nuala will probably volunteer; her brother means the world to her."

"Has she given blood before?"

"No, but that won't deter her."

The nurse nodded and marked it down on her forms. "I'll just need your signature to validate that you're allowing your children to undergo the procedure, and then I'll call your daughter in when we're ready for her," she said. "Do you need to call her or something?"

"No, she's here... somewhere," Lana said. "She should be back soon."

The nurse nodded again and looked back up at the TV. "I hope the Rangers are able to stop him this time," she said. "Or every hospital, including this one, is going to be swamped with casualties."

"Mhm," Lana nodded, distractedly. "They'll sort it out. They always do."

The nurse touched Lana's shoulder, comfortingly, and then walked away. She passed by Nuala in the corridor but barely recognised the young teenager. Back in the waiting room, Lana told Nuala everything the nurse had told her, and as expected Nuala was more than ready to help Ciaran.

"When did they say the procedure was taking place?" Nuala asked, spying Goldar on the TV screen.

"I don't know," Lana said. "Do you need to go?"

"I haven't been called. Until Jason or one of the others calls for my help, I'm not leaving."

Lana turned the volume down on the TV and sat back in her chair. She held her head in her hands, and felt Nuala sit beside her. Setting Ellis on the floor, Nuala watched as he crawled to the building blocks in the middle of the room, and tried to stack them on top of one another - he only made it to three before they all toppled over again.

"Moving here was a mistake," Lana said quietly.

"How was it a mistake?" Nuala asked.

"If we hadn't come here none of this would be happening," Lana said. "We should've just stayed in Dublin. We could've worked around the problems, and you and Ciaran would be safe."

"Mum, we are safe," Nuala said.

"You call being stabbed safe, Nuala?" Lana snapped. "Your brother needs a blood transfusion."

"He'll be fine," Nuala assured her mother. "Mum, we had to leave, we had to move. I couldn't stay in Dublin with the trial going on. I could barely get on the stand to testify. I was lucky that Chris got sent away! If there was no CCTV at the arena, he would never have been convicted."

Lana sighed and clutched her daughter's hand. "I just don't want you to get hurt," she said.

"Mum, I can't promise that we are not going to get hurt," Nuala said, squeezing her mother's hand.

"That's what I am scared of," Lana said. "I keep wishing that I had said no, that day when you came home and told me about the Power Rangers and what had happened. That same day when you took Ciaran and I to meet the rest of the team. I wish I had told Zordon 'no', he needed to find someone else because you weren't going to do it. I didn't want you too."

"Then why didn't you say no?"

"Because I saw how Jason and the others made you feel," Lana said. "They made you smile and laugh, and it has been a long time since I heard you laugh, at least genuinely. I didn't want to take that away from you. But I want you to be happy and safe, and I fear that you can't be both if you're a Power Ranger. Nuala, I'm scared."

Nuala squeezed her mother's hand tightly, and kissed the back of it. "I'm scared too," she admitted. "But that's why there are six of us. We help each other, we cover each other. When one of us falls the others are there to help pick them up, and while I may get banged up a little bit, I'm not going to be anything worse - _that_ I swear."

Lana sighed and wrapped her arm around her daughter, drawing in close and hugging her for all she was worth. "You better contact the others," she said. "They may need help."

"What if the nurse comes for me while I'm not here?" Nuala asked.

"Just make sure you're back in time," Lana said.

Nuala bit her lip, hesitated and then nodded. She stood up and kissed her mother's cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she promised. "Hey, tiger toes, you behave for Nana, OK?" she added to Ellis, kneeling in front of him and kissing his forehead. "Mummy be back soon. I love you."

Ellis babbled away happily, picking up his building blocks in both hands and knocked them together. Nuala smiled and looked to her mother; she nodded once and hurried to a secluded part of the hospital to morph.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Alpha, what's going on?" Billy asked. He and the others had tried to morph and failed, resulting in several mini explosions from their power morphers.

"It's an inter-dimensional power surge, caused by the beam trying to locate Zordon," Alpha answered. "It's shutting down all sources of energy within the command centre and throughout the morphin grid."

"You mean we can't morph?" Jason asked.

"Not until the power surge ends," Alpha said.

"But Goldar's ripping the city apart," Zack protested.

"There's nothing I can do," Alpha sighed. There was a faint beep and the computer died. Alpha sighed in annoyance and frustration. "Now we've lost the computer too."

"If we can't morph," said Jason, "Goldar's going to trash the world."

"I can't believe we're stuck here," Zack complained looking around the dark command centre. "Seems like things just keep going from bad to worse."

"I wish there was something I could do," Alpha said.

"Hold on," said Billy, thinking fast. He pulled open the computer's mainframe and looked down at the wires inside. "I've got an idea. Let me try something. If I connect this negative electrode to this..."

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha shrieked and sparks flew from inside the computer.

"Alpha, Billy's trying to concentrate," Zack said, patting the robot on the shoulder.

"If I connect this positive electrode to this positive electrode..." Billy muttered as he worked. Around him the others gathered, eager to see if he could fix their minor glitch in the morphin' grid. There was rapid beeping and the computer sprang to life. "Hey, it worked!" he grinned, mildly surprised at his own actions.

"You fixed it!" Trini smiled.

"We should be able to morph now," Billy announced.

"Let's do it," Zack said, looking to Jason.

"Alpha, keep looking for Zordon," Jason told the robot. "We better call Nuala; we're going to need her to form the Megazord." The others nodded and Jason raised his communicator to his lips. "Nuala, you there?"

"_I'm here,_" Nuala replied. "_Ready when you are._"

"Alright. Let's do it," Jason said, reaching for his power morpher. "It's morphin' time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"_Dire Wolf_!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"It's over, Rangers, I'm tired of fooling around," Scorpina snarled as she battled the Rangers. "Now, feel my sting." She powered up her sword and threw it at the team. It swung around them like a boomerang, rendering them all to their knees.

"Look out!" Kim shouted as Goldar tried to squash them with his giant foot. The team rolled aside quickly, and carefully got back to their feet.

"Jason, we've got to use a new tactic," Billy said, scrambling over to his leader and friend.

"Right," Jason agreed. He glanced in Nuala's direction, and debated with himself in telling her the truth about how Ciaran got his injuries. He had seen the way she had reacted to her brother's injuries when they arrived back at the command centre, and didn't want to risk her going off alone to battle Goldar.

"Are you stupid power geeks ready to give up?" Rita shouted as she appeared on top of a building overlooking the fighting.

"Never!" Jason shouted.

"Jason, you fool."

"You're the fool if you think we'll ever surrender to you," Jason said.

"Silence!" Goldar demanded, striking the ground with his sword. It shuddered and the rangers stumbled as they tried to remain upright.

"You can't win, Rita!" Jason shouted, summoning his power sword.

"It's time not to complete my evil plan," Rita shrieked with laughter. "Goldar, do it!"

Goldar nodded and picked up a bus that had been trundling along the road parallel to the fighting.

"No, they're civilians!" Jason shouted, but Goldar refused to put the bus down. He peered in through one of the windows and laughed.

"Actually, they're friends of yours," he said. "I believe you call them Bulk and Skull."

"Goldar, put them down!"

"Not until you surrender."

"Take them to the beach," Rita laughed.

"Yes, my Empress," Goldar said, walking away with the bus in hand. It looked like a toy compared to Goldar's giant size.

"We got to save them," said Jason. "Come on, Rangers."

The others nodded and followed after him towards the beach. They soon reached the sandy area, and scanned the beach for any sign of Goldar, Bulk and Skull.

"There!" Nuala said, pointing at the bus. It was situated on top of a cliff with a squad of puttie patrollers around him.

"Aw, man, this is serious!" Zack said.

"It's going over any second," Kim added.

"We got to do something," Trini said as the bus moved a few inches closer to the edge.

"We've got to get up there!" said Jason, pounding his fist into his palm.

"But if we make a move they'll send them over for sure," Kim hesitated.

"They're going over anyway," Nuala argued.

"She's right," Zack agreed.

Jason nodded and started towards the cliff. "Come on. Let's go!" he called to the others who were hot on his tail.

"Whoa, look out!" Billy said, stopping in his tracks.

"Aw, man, not Goldar again!" Zack complained as the giant monkey appeared in front of them, blocking their path to the cliff.

Biting his lip, Jason glanced over at Nuala. This time she caught him and frowned. "What?" she asked. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm not sure now is the best time to tell you," Jason said.

"Don't tell me anything you wouldn't tell me unless we were about to get seriously hurt," Nuala said, turning away.

Jason sighed. He had to hand it to Nuala; she knew how to be calm in a dire situation. He needed to tell her the truth about Ciaran's injuries, and he figured that she'd want to take her anger out on Goldar for what he had done, but he also didn't want her to run off in a blind rage, or go looking for Goldar after the fight. If he told her now, then she could do something about her rage, but if he told her later then she may have gotten hurt whilst searching for him.

"It's about Ciaran," Jason said. "Goldar -"

"I don't want to know, Jason," Nuala said.

"Nuala, I'd rather you know now!" Jason argued. "I don't want you to get hurt later."

Nuala clenched her teeth together and turned back to Jason. "Goldar hurt Ciaran," she said. "I get it."

"How did you -?"

"If it wasn't Goldar that had hurt him, you wouldn't be telling me now," Nuala said. "You want me to take my anger out on Goldar for what he has done to Ciaran; you want me to get my feelings of anger and frustration out of the way so I don't get hurt later."

Jason nodded to confirm her words. That was what he had wanted.

"Well I can't hurt Goldar from down here," Nuala said. "And besides, Alpha already told me."

Jason stared at Nuala for a split second longer, and then nodded and turned back to the overgrown monkey. "Let's do it!" he said, reaching into the air. The others followed suit and called upon their Dino Zords for backup. "Ready, Nuala?"

"Let's show him some Megazord power!" Nuala said eager to take her revenge out on Goldar. She'd always been fond of monkeys, but Goldar was one monkey that she'd be happy to see the end of.

"Yeah!" the others agreed.

Pushing forward on his controls, Zack punched Goldar's sword away from them and then used the other fist to punch him in the stomach. Goldar growled and slashed at the Megazord but was blocked by the dire spear.

"How do you like it, huh?" Nuala asked, stabbing the spear at Goldar. The giant ape laughed as the point struck his armour rather than the skin underneath.

"You missed, Silver Ranger," he growled. "Unlike your brother, I am protected."

"Shut up!" Nuala said, her voice strained and her fists tightening around her controls.

"Hey, what's happening?" Zack asked. "We're losing energy!"

"There's an eclipse starting," Billy said. "Our solar power is diminishing."

"What's that?" Kim shrieked as another monster appeared beside Goldar.

"It's a Scorpion monster," Billy said. "Watch out for her stinger!"

Nuala looked between both Scorpina and Goldar - the giant monkey stepped behind the Megazord and attacked, while Scorpina attacked from the front. Nuala raised the spear and blocked Scorpina's stinger, but failed to use her shield to stop Goldar.

Sparks exploded both inside and out of the Megazord.

"Solar power is down 25%," said Zack as a black cloud continued to cover the sun above them.

"We're losing power fast!" Jason called. "We're down to 50%!"

Goldar growled and jumped into the air, landing a double kick to the Megazords back and sending it stumbling forward into Scorpina's sword. The tip pierced the Megazords side causing more sparks to fly.

"Solar power cells are almost out," Billy announced as Scorpina tossed the Megazord aside like a rag doll. It keeled over and the Rangers cried out in agony as they were thrown around inside.

"Jason, the power sword - hurry!" Trini said. It was their last defence.

"We can use it to charge up the power cell," Jason nodded. "We need the power sword!"

The clouds parted and the brightly energized power sword emerged. The Megazord wrapped its hand around the hilt and got back to its feet. With the sword in hand, Jason charged the Megazord forward, while Nuala blocked and attacked with the sword. She managed to fend off both Scorpina and Goldar, and knocked them to the floor.

"Alright, now we have a chance!" Jason said.

Goldar growled and got back to his feet. He spun his sword in his hand and started towards the Megazord. Nuala pushed forward on her controls and raised her shield to deflect his attack, and then swung the power sword around, clipping him in the exposed skin beneath his chest plates.

"Just like my brother, you're not _always_ protected!" Nuala snapped.

"Take me on, Silver Ranger," snarled a familiar deep voice. "See how protected I can be."

The Rangers sighed in annoyance as the Green ranger arrived behind Goldar and Scorpina. He was, without the use of a Megazord, the same height as the two maniacal monsters.

"Oh, no, not him again!" Zack complained.

"Come on. You pathetic Power Rangers are finally going down!" He lunged forward and slashed down with his sword of darkness. Using the controls, Jason blocked the attack, but his energy levels were in the red.

"We're in trouble," said Billy. "We don't have enough power left to finish this fight."

Shoving the power sword away from him, the Green Ranger slashed across the Megazords stomach, and then down its chest with his own sword.

"If the Megazord were at full power, we'd crush him!" Zack said. "We got to hang in!"

"Give me all the power that's left," said Jason, thinking quickly. He looked back at the green Ranger as he poised his sword ready to stab it through the visor of the Megazord. He wielded it above his head and continued to slash several times against the exterior of the Megazord.

Sparks flew in every direction and the Rangers were having a hard time holding on to the power they had left.

"We're outnumbered!" Nuala said, glancing over her shoulder at Scorpina and Goldar that were behind them. "Even with the power sword and power spear, we don't have enough energy to fight. Jason, we have to get out of here!"

No sooner had Nuala spoken did Scorpina attack - she locked her stinger onto the shoulder of the Megazord and injected them with venom. It seeped into their controls and locked them in place, rendering the Megazord and its Rangers defenseless.

Laughing darkly, both Goldar and the Green Ranger attacked. Each slashing at the Megazord with their swords, before combing their energies and firing a laser blast at the team. The Megazord sparked dangerously. Automatically the Rangers were ejected from the cockpit and, with a deafening roar; the Dino Zords disappeared into a flaming crevice that had appeared.

"No!" Nuala yelled as she rolled over onto her back, just in time to see the Dire wolf submerge beneath the lava pit that was bubbling beneath the surface.

"Our Zords!" Jason yelled in vain.

"Their totaled!" Kim cried.

"I can't believe it," Zack said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's like Rita destroyed a part of us."

"They were always there for us when we needed them," Billy agreed.

"Now they're gone," said Trini, covering her mouth with her hand. It was hard to take in the rationality of the fact that they were now defenseless against Rita and her evil empire.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Once back at the command centre, the Rangers were left to ponder what had happened. Nuala couldn't believe that they had lost the Zords, whilst the others were worried about how Rita could've won. Neither of them wanted to believe that this was the end for them.

"The Power Rangers are history," Kim said, sighing heavily.

"It's over, Rita's won!" Trini agreed, clutching the mainframe in support at the revelation.

Nuala sighed and run a hand through her hair. It couldn't be over, could it?

"Rangers - we can't give up," Jason said, trying to boost the despair in his friends.

"Why shouldn't we?" Kim asked. "Zordon's gone, the Zords have been destroyed. We're outmatched."

"Billy, what are the chances of bringing Zordon back online?" Alpha asked the blue Ranger.

"Less than 10%," Billy said.

"Isn't the smallest chance of victory enough of a reason for us to keep on fighting?" Jason asked. "The world needs us, Rangers!"

"Let's face it - the Green Ranger was Rita's trump card, and she played it," said Zack, trying to get Jason to see the point of the argument for his and the other's views. "She won."

"No, Rangers, I cannot accept that," Alpha said, looking from each human to the next. "Zordon would not accept that."

"But Zordon's not here," Trini said, tearfully.

Wiping away a stray tear, Nuala perked up as the computers around the podium started to beep rapidly. "What's going on?" she asked, jumping to her feet.

"The computer finally has an answer," Alpha answered, hurrying over to the mainframe. "When the green Ranger was caught in the force field the computer locked onto his bio-vibrations. It's been running them through the system, and we've got a match."

"You mean the computer knows the Green Ranger's identity?" Billy asked.

"Exactly."

"I'll program it into the viewing globe," Billy said, "That way we'll all see it."

"Finally some answers," Trini said, turning to the round sphere behind her. The others followed and waited patiently for Billy to input the data. Suddenly a pixalized image of the green ranger appeared, and the team gasped as it became clearer and clearer.

Nuala breathed in sharply, and glanced at Jason from behind the others. "It can't be..." she said, shaking her head.

"No way..." said Jason, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Aw man," Zack whispered.

"Kimberly, look," said Trini.

"I don't believe it," Kim said, also shaking her head.

The Green Ranger was the new kid at Angel Grove. The same new kid that both Nuala and Kim had befriended on his first day at Angel Grove High.

It was Tommy Oliver.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Wednesday, June 18, 2014 at 09:50pm**


	16. A Turn in the Tide, Part V

**Author's Note:** Soo... what happens now? Go find out!

**Dedications:** N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"I can't believe Tommy is the green Ranger," Kim said, shaking her head and turning away from the viewing globe.

"There's got to be a mistake," Nuala agreed, looking at Billy behind her.

"Unlikely. The computer matched the interspatial bio-vibrations with the green Ranger's," Billy answered.

"Yeah, but he computer's also been under repair," Zack added.

Billy shook his head. "Alpha corrected the malfunction," he said.

Zack and Nuala sighed and looked back at the viewing globe. This couldn't be true. It was impossible to think that a friend could be their new enemy. Unfortunately, the evidence was piling up against them, and the odds didn't seem to be in their favor.

"Then Tommy _is_, without any doubt, the green Ranger," Trini said, putting her arm around Kimberly.

"How could Tommy do this to us?" Zack asked.

"Who wants to bet Rita is involved?" Nuala asked, wrapping her arms around her stomach and sitting on the edge of the mainframe. Billy sat beside her and Nuala rested her head on his shoulder. She felt exhausted and defeated.

"More than likely," Billy agreed.

"Rita must've cast a spell over Tommy, and controlling his mind," Alpha chirped.

"See, Rangers? We can't give up," Jason said, repeating his earlier message. "We have to break Rita's spell and save Tommy."

"What if we can't?" Kim asked, looking worried. "What if we can't break Rita's spell. What if... what if we never see Tommy again, or even better, how do we get close to him to break the spell in the first place? We don't even know how to counteract it."

Nuala and Trini exchanged looks from across the command centre. Kim had a point, if they didn't know how the spell was enacted, how did they intend to break it?

"There has to be a way," Jason insisted. "First we have to find Tommy. We'll figure out the rest later. Let's split up and look for him. Nuala, can you help us on this?"

"I have to get back to the hospital first," Nuala said. "They're preparing Ciaran for a blood transfusion because he's lost so much blood, and I'm the only available candidate with the same blood type as him."

"Wow, you must have a very rare blood type," Billy said.

Nuala nodded and lifted her head to look at him. "Yeah. We're both AB negative," she answered.

Billy looked surprised. That was extremely rare.

"But after that I can help you search," Nuala said.

"Do what you gotta do for your brother," Jason said. "Right now he's your top priority. Meet us at Billy's or something when you're done."

"I will," Nuala nodded. "Good luck, you guys, and be careful." She reached for her communicator and disappeared in a column of silver, leaving the others behind.

With Nuala gone, Kim turned back to Jason. "What if Tommy is at Rita's palace?" she asked.

"Then we wait him out," Billy answered. "He'll show up sooner or later."

"What about Zordon, Alpha?" Trini asked.

"Green Ranger thought he had got rid of him," Alpha answered. "But there's still a chance that I can bring Zordon back."

"You keep working on that, Alpha," said Jason, patting the robot on the shoulder. "As for the rest of us we'll find Tommy."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala sighed as she arrived back at the hospital. She run her hands over her face, and groaned at how exhausted she felt. Ever since the birth of Ellis she'd been experiencing random spouts of fatigue which usually left her feeling like she hadn't slept at all, and that's how she felt at this very moment.

_**Come on, Nuala, keep it together,**_ she thought. _**Hopefully things will be over soon. Ciaran will be back home and you can sleep.**_

Nodding lightly at her own thoughts, Nuala made her way through the hospital hallways and turned into the waiting room to find her mother playing with Ellis. They both looked up as she entered and were both happy and relieved to see their mother and daughter.

"What happened?" both Lana and Nuala asked at the same time. The two females shared a brief smile, and Nuala collapsed into a nearby chair as Ellis crawled towards her.

"How's Ciaran?" Nuala asked.

"They're just about ready with the transfusion," Lana answered. "It's nothing huge. They just need two sacks of blood from you, and then they'll hook Ciaran up to an IV in order to get the blood back into his system."

"And in wound?"

"Nothing a few stitches couldn't fix," Lana said.

"So it's not fatal?"

Lana shook her head. "Nope. Ciaran's a fighter, just like the rest of you," she smiled.

"Good. This means I can let Jason off the hook."

"For what?"

"Well, I haven't actually been blaming him," Nuala said. "But part of me wanted to blame him for getting Ciaran involved. Apparently Ciaran wanted to help Jason get his power morpher from Goldar but the plan backfired and he ended up getting hurt. I guess I was blaming Jason for letting Ciaran try to help, but now I know Ci is going to be OK, and it's not a fatal wound, I can forgive him."

"Oh, Nuala, you shouldn't blame your friends," Lana said. "I'm sure Jason wouldn't have allowed anything to happen to Ciaran intentionally. I've seen the way he and Zack are with him, they treat him like a brother already, and you, they're really protective of you. It's a nice sight to see."

Nuala smiled faintly and nodded. "Yeah, they're awesome," she said.

"Miss. Archer?"

Nuala looked up as the on-call nurse arrived behind her. "Yeah?" she asked.

"If you'd like to follow me, I'll take you to the examination room," the nurse said.

Nuala looked back at her mother, nodded and followed the nurse down the hall. Ellis tried to crawl after her but Lana called him and brought him back to where the toys were. The toddler squirmed a little and cried out for his mother, but soon settled down when Nuala had disappeared from sight. He hadn't been away from her for so long in one day before.

Inside the room the nurse surveyed Nuala as she sat opposite the young teenager. "Have you given blood before?" she asked.

"No," Nuala answered.

"Have you received blood before?"

Nuala nodded. "Ciaran gave me blood a year ago. There were some complications when I gave birth, and my iron levels were critical so I needed a blood transfusion."

"How many bags did they supply, if you don't mind me asking?" the nurse asked as she prepared Nuala's arm for the needle.

"Two - Three."

The nurse nodded and held up the needle. "Not afraid of needles, are you?" she asked.

"Not as much as I am of hospitals," Nuala said, smiling. "No, I had a few needles when I was pregnant, so I'm OK."

The nurse nodded again and jabbed Nuala in the arm with the needle. Instantly blood started to pool to the surface and when the nurse pulled back on the syringe a vial of thick red liquid appeared.

Nuala felt queasy and her head started to swim causing her to look away. The nurse chuckled lightly and patted her knee. "It won't take long," she said. "Normally it takes about four hours, but we don't need that much from you."

"OK," Nuala said, still refusing to look. She felt the nurse changing the syringe and tightened her arm muscles as the needle pulled. She wasn't afraid, but the pain of a needle breaking her skin wasn't something she liked to endure.

After roughly thirty minutes the nurse released Nuala and she returned to the waiting room. She frowned as she found almost thirty people, patients and hospital staff included, standing around the TV gasping at what they were seeing.

"Mum, what's going on?" Nuala asked, weaving her way through to the front. She stopped dead as she saw the footage for herself. A giant dragon was destroying the down town area. "Oh man!"

Lana turned to her daughter and nodded.

"I'll be careful," Nuala said.

Lana nodded once and then turned her back on her daughter, she didn't want to watch her running off to another battle, especially when she felt like keeping both her children at the hospital, and at least here they were safe.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After locating Tommy at the youth centre, Kimberly made her way back to Billy's house where the others were waiting. "Hey, guys," she said, slightly out of breath.

"Hey, Kim, any luck?" Jason asked.

"Well, I found Tommy at the Youth Centre," Kim said.

"You did?" Zack asked. "What happened?"

"It was weird," Kim said, confused. "His eyes were glowing green. It was really scary. He has known all along who we are."

"That we're the Power Rangers?" Billy asked, skeptically.

"Mm-hmm," Kim nodded, "and he is definitely out to get us."

"He's got to be under one of Rita's spells," Jason said, shaking his head. There wasn't another explanation.

"That explain why he's acting so weird," Kim agreed.

"And why the putties didn't attack him," Zack added.

"Finally, this is all starting to make sense," Billy said.

"Guys," Trini called, running down the street towards the house. She was huffing and puffing.

"Trini, what's wrong?" Kim asked, worried.

"There's trouble downtown," Trini answered, her breathing labored from running. "It's all over the radio. There's a monster attacking the business district."

"Rita's not going to give up, is she?" Zack asked. The others shook their heads. It wasn't in Rita's nature to just give up.

"Come on. Let's go finish what she's started," Jason said.

"Wait, what about Nuala?" Billy asked. The silver Ranger had agreed to meet them back at his place, but she still hadn't arrived yet.

Jason glanced around at the others, and raised his communicator to his lips. "Nuala, come in, do you hear me?"

There was static along the line, but Nuala didn't respond.

"Nuala, can you hear me?" Jason asked.

Again no reply.

Billy looked nervously at Zack.

Trini sighed and touched his arm gently. "Don't worry, Billy, she's probably hung up at the hospital or something. According to my mom, blood transfusions can take up to four hours, depending on the amount of blood that his needed," she explained. "Besides, Nuala is probably worried about leaving her Mum and Ellis at this moment."

"Trini's right," Jason agreed. "We can always try again if we need help."

"OK," Billy said, nodding.

"Right. Ready, guys?" Jason asked. "It's morphin' time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The sound of her wrist communicator invaded her senses again. Nuala groaned and opened her eyes, trying to locate exactly where she was. Her head was throbbing and her eyes were still a little blurry; she blinked several times to clear the haze and then lifted her head to look at her surroundings. She was somewhere in the business district - or at least what was left of it.

The last thing she remembered was walking out of the examination room after giving blood, and spotting a crowd of people in the waiting room. They were all murmuring about the giant dragon that was attacking the downtown area, her mother had caught her eye and silently nodded, wishing her good luck before turning away,

Nuala remembered feeling a weight inside her stomach as she realised the fear her mother was going through. She understood how her mother felt because in some way, she felt the same. There wasn't a day that went by where she didn't panic about a ranger battle, it was dangerous work and she often wondered if, every time she left the house to go to battle, would she come back to her family again. She didn't like to dwell on it, but sometimes it was unavoidable.

"Ah, you're awake,"

Nuala jumped and looked up to see the green Ranger standing over her. She glared at him, and struggled to stand. Her hands had been tied behind her back, and although her feet were also tied she still found that she could stand. "Tommy," she said, hoping to reach her new friend. "Tommy, listen to me, Rita has you under a spell. I can help you."

"No. Rita is my Empress," Tommy said, shaking his head. "You are a thorn in her side. All she wants is to conquer Earth, and you stand to stop her. Soon you will be destroyed and she will have her conquest."

"You're delusional if you think evil will win," Nuala bit back. "The other Rangers will stop you."

Tommy laughed and walked towards her. He stopped when he was almost nose-to-nose and glared down at her through his visor. Nuala felt her stomach twist in fear, she couldn't see his face and therefore couldn't guess his intentions, although she had a pretty good idea that they didn't include letting her go.

"Your friends are almost here," he said. "Let's see how they fair when one of their own is the prize."

"I am not a prize!" Nuala shouted, struggling to get out of her binds. Chris, Ellis's father, had seen her as a prize the night he had attacked her. She could remember him whispering in her ear as he held her down on the ice of how she was a prize worth conquering.

Tommy laughed and caught Nuala by the cuff of her neck. He dragged her out of the warehouse and threw her to the floor at his feet. The silver Ranger grunted as and carefully pushed herself up onto her side; she shook her head and looked up at Tommy.

"Don't do this," she pleaded. "It's not you. You're not evil. Let us help you. Let us break Rita's spell, you can use your powers for good."

"I'll never abandon my Empress," Tommy said, reaching for her again. Nuala stiffened but lifted her head as she heard Jason's voice.

"Tommy!" the red Ranger shouted.

"At long last," Tommy laughed. "It's the end of the Power Rangers. Drago Zord, destroy them!" He put his flute to his lips - an instrument that Nuala had yet to see - and started playing a soft tune. The Drago Zord responded by leveling the others with his lasers and firing.

Nuala felt her breath catch in her throat, and she forced herself to her feet. "No! Guys!" she shouted, earning their attention.

"Jason, he has Nuala!" Kim shouted, pointing at where Nuala was standing with Tommy. The green Ranger had caught her arm and pulled her back towards him, preventing her from helping or running to the safety of her friends.

"That must be why she didn't answer her communicator," Trini said.

"Tommy, stop!" Jason shouted. "You don't know what you're doing! Let her go!"

"I'm destroying you, and I'm doing it because my empress commands me to." Tommy retorted, his grip tightening on Nuala's arm. "Miss pretty-in-silver here is the prize for a job well done."

Nuala grit her teeth, and stamped her foot down onto Tommy's. He howled in pain and released her. "I told you," she snapped. "I'm not a prize!"

With Tommy recovering from her surprise attack, Nuala tried to escape back to her friends. Billy and Jason rushed forward to meet her, but were stopped by the dragon Zord. The ground shook unevenly and Nuala stumbled. She fell back, but was caught from hitting the ground.

"Disobedience will result in punishment," Tommy said, dragging Nuala back to the warehouse. "You will stay here while I destroy your friends."

"No, wait!" Nuala shouted, but her actions were in vain as Tommy slammed the door of the warehouse on her. The clanging sound did nothing to help her headache. _**Great,**_ she thought. _**Now what am I going to do?**_

Meanwhile outside, the others had recovered from the surprise attack by the dragon Zord, and regrouped. Billy was distraught over failing to save Nuala and it seemed nothing the others were saying could convince him.

"We'll save her, Billy," Kim said, gently.

"Yeah, and besides, Nuala is strong," Zack agreed. "She'll find her own way out of this. You'll see."

"But how did he get her?" Billy asked. "She was at the hospital, surrounded by people. How does someone get taken when there are witnesses?"

Trini squeezed Billy's shoulder and looked up at the rooftop near the dragon Zord. Tommy had abandonded Nuala in one of the warehouses, and taken to his Zord. "Nuala's a big girl," she said. "She's safe for now, but she's not going to remain safe if Rita wins. If we want to save her, then we need to stop Tommy."

"Trini's right," Jason said. "Can you do it, Billy?"

"Do it for Nuala," Trini said.

Billy sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I can do it," he said. "For Nuala."

Kim and Trini smiled, and squeezed the blue Ranger between them.

"OK, then," Jason said. "For Nuala!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Inside her container, Nuala stumbled around as the ground continued to shake beneath her feet. Still, after two weeks of being a Ranger, she wasn't used to the earthquakes that accompanied a Megazord battle. The dragon Zord must've been causing quite a rampage for the ground to have been shaking that bad.

Stumbling into the side of the container, Nuala hissed as she fell against something sharp. Pain flared through her hand and she looked down to see a long slash down her palm, blood flowed from it effortlessly and tricked down her wrist into her sleeve. It was warm, and the skin was slashed from just under the index finger.

"That's going to leave a mark," Nuala said to herself, but despite the pain and blood, which made Nuala's stomach queasy, the silver Ranger found that she could use the object that had cut her to cut through her ropes. She had tried tugging at them with her teeth, but it only resulted in tightening the knots and hurting her jaw.

As the shaking stopped for a bit, Nuala turned herself to the sharp object and saw that it was actually a part of the warehouse. It had been broken and the serrated edge and bent inwards rather than outwards. Hooking her ropes above the serrated edge, Nuala tugged it up and down several times, watching as the ends started to fray.

"Come on," Nuala murmured as she continued to cut. If she could get her hand free then she could untie her feet herself. As she worked a bright light glowed from her back pocket. A silver light was protruding from where she kept her power morpher. But what was it, and what did it mean?

The ground shook again and Nuala stumbled away from the small opening, she groaned as she slammed her shoulder into the warehouse, and raised her arms up to cover her head as the far end of the container came crashing down. There was a familiar roar and Nuala looked up to see the Dire Wolf Zord standing over her.

"You here!" Nuala shouted. "You're OK!"

The Dire Wolf roared and crouched down so that it was almost level with Nuala, and although it was a hunk of metal, Nuala could tell that it was happy to see her. In the beginning she had been hesitant of accepting that the Dire Wolf would recognise her and bond with her through her power coin, but now she could see what Zordon had meant when he said that the one who commanded the power of the Dire Wolf would be considered a lifelong friend in the eyes of the Zord.

"I missed you too," Nuala said as her Zord whined, his systems vibrating and his eyes glowing. "As soon as I can get out of here," she added. "We can help the others."

The Dire Wolf locked its targets onto the ropes binding the Ranger that controlled him, and fired its ice blasters. The little ice bullets hit the ropes and froze them instantly, allowing Nuala to smash her way to freedom. The silver ranger grinned and stood up, feeling the warmth and tingles as her blood rushed back to her toes.

"Thank you," she said, walking over to the Dire Wolf and touching her uninjured hand to his snout. "Now let's go show the Green Ranger what a real Zord is. It's morphin' time - Dire Wolf!"

The Dire Wolf Zord barked and straightened up as Nuala commanded the cockpit. They set their sights on the dragon Zord and charged forward to help the others.

"Nuala, you're OK!" Zack exclaimed, happy to see her.

"For the most part," Nuala said, looking at her hand. It was covered by her gloves but it still hurt.

"Tommy, stop, you don't know what you're doing!" Jason shouted, cutting through the celebrations. Both Nuala and Zack looked around and started forward, being the two commanders of Ice Age animals they both fired up their ice blasters and fired onto the Dragon Zord. It wailed and twisted as the frozen water was dumped all over it, and caused sparks to fly inside and out.

"No!" Tommy shouted as the Dragon Zord stumbled away from Jason.

"All right, Rangers, we have to destroy the power sword in order to save Tommy," Jason said as the dragon Zord lay completely helpless and half-covered in ice on the sidelines. "I'm going down!" he ejected the Megazord and landed on the docks.

"Jason, be careful!" Trini called as she, Kim and Billy watched the red and green Rangers fight, while both Nuala and Zack maintained a firm watch over the dragon Zord. They were ready to apply more ice if needed.

As she sat back in her Zord, Nuala felt the skin around the wound on her hand pull, she hissed in pain, drawing the attention of Zack.

"Are you OK?" the black Ranger asked.

"No, I cut my hand while I was trying to escape," Nuala answered. "The palm is split from my index finger to the wrist. It really hurts."

"Well, that wasn't very graceful of you, was it?" Zack teased.

"Bite me," Nuala replied. "I just hope Jason destroys that sword soon so that I can get it checked out. At least I'm not dead. My Mum can ground me for getting hurt, but she can't kill me for being dead."

"How can she kill you for being dead, if you're already dead?" Zack asked.

"My mum would find a way," Nuala said. "She'd bring me back if she had to, and then kill me again!"

Zack chuckled and looked down as the tune from Tommy's flute played throughout the area. The Dragon Zord started to move, but became motionless after Nuala hit it again with another round of frozen water, whilst on the ground Jason attacked Tommy and knocked both the flute and power sword from his hands.

Landing on his stomach, Tommy reached for the sword but was too late as it disintegrated after Jason had destroyed it with his blaster. He groaned and lay still on the ground, as the evil powers of the green Ranger left his body.

"Finally!" Nuala sighed, ejecting and landing at the base of her Zord. She leaned against its leg and powered down, as her hand came into view Zack sucked in a breath at the amount of blood that had spilled over her palm.

"That's nasty," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leading her over to the others.

"Nuala, are you OK?" Billy asked, reaching them before they could get to Jason and Tommy.

"Yeah, I'm OK," Nuala said. "As soon as I get this checked out," she showed him her palm, "I'll be fine."

"Come on, I'll take you to the hospital," Billy said, wrapping his arm around her waist. The wound wasn't exactly something that needed a hospital attention, but if they could sort it out for her, then she could also check in on her brother at the same time. She wasn't sure how much time had passed between her abduction outside of the hospital, and now but she was sure it wasn't much. Ciaran may have still been having his transfusion.

Nuala smiled and nodded at Billy. "OK," she said. "See you later, Zack."

"I'll tell Jason you've gone," Zack said, running off to Jason with Kim and Trini, and leaving Nuala in the care of Billy.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

At the end of the day, after Billy and Nuala had returned to the command centre from the hospital, they were greeted by the triumphant faces of the other Rangers, including Tommy, although when the green Ranger set his sights on the Nuala he felt immediately guilty as he remembered all the trouble he had caused her.

"Nuala," he started.

Nuala shook her head. "Despite the fact that my head hurts, my hand is cut up really badly and I am now grounded again," she said. "I can forgive you for abducting me..."

"But...?" Tommy pressed.

"But what you did to Ciaran is going to take longer."

"Technically I didn't touch your brother, Goldar did," Tommy pointed out.

"If you hadn't sent him there in the first place, he wouldn't have gotten hurt," Nuala said.

"I'm sorry..." Tommy said.

Nuala forced a small smile, but it didn't lift Tommy's spirits. Sorry wasn't going to erase everything he had done to her and her brother, he knew that, he also knew that he had a lot of making up to do before Nuala would ever trust him again. He had learned from their first day together that family meant everything to Nuala, and she'd have done anything to make sure that the little family that she had left were safe.

"So, grounded again, huh?" Zack asked, wrapping his arm around Nuala's shoulder. "You've got to be the worst superhero in existence."

Nuala laughed and shrugged. "I told you, I'd take being grounded over dead any day," she said.

"True. At least after your sentence has been lifted you can walk away," Zack agreed. "You can't do that if you're dead."

"No, really?" Nuala asked, sarcastically.

Zack shot her a wicked look, and Nuala laughed again.

"Welcome back, Zordon," Jason said, as Zack and Nuala recovered from their playful banter. "We missed you."

"Morale was pretty low without you," Zack agreed, squeezing Nuala to him as he looked up at Zordon.

"The fact remains that as you faced your greatest danger with all the odds stacked against you, you carried on like true superheroes, and persevered," Zordon praised.

"We owe a lot to Alpha," Trini said, putting her arms around the little robot.

"Aw," Alpha said, bashfully.

"Alpha, you displayed exemplary leadership capabilities in my absence," Zordon said. "I am very proud of you."

"Oh, well, I..." Alpha said, stumbling for words. If he had been human he would've probably blushed under the praise. "Ah, shucks."

"Now I welcome our newest Ranger," Zordon continued, turning to Tommy. "Now that you are a true Power Ranger, Tommy, you must follow three basic rules or lose the protection of the power. First, never use your power for personal gain. Second, never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you, and finally, keep your identity a secret. No one may know you are a Power Ranger. Only a select few are aware of whom you really are, but it was a need to know situation."

Tommy nodded in understanding. Jason and the others had already explained to him that Nuala's family only knew about her being a Ranger because it helped her family life, especially with her 1 year old son. "You can count on me, Zordon," he said. "One hundred percent."

"Here, I made you a communicator." said Billy, handing Tommy the metallic bracelet. It glowed a faint green in the new ranger's hands.

"Thanks, man," Tommy said, overwhelmed.

"You're one of us now," Jason said, clapping Tommy on the shoulder. "Welcome aboard."

"A new chapter has begun, Rangers," Zordon said, surveying the scene. "Let the power protect you."

"Come on, guys," Jason said, holding his hand out, palm down. The others grinned at each other and followed his lead, each putting their own hand on top of the others in front of them. When all five Rangers had finished, they looked to Tommy.

Tommy looked around at his new friends, smiled and put his hand on top of Billy's.

"Power Rangers!"

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**That's the end of the Green with Evil arc. So, what's next, huh? Will Nuala forgive Tommy for what he did to Ciaran (albeit not intentionally), when will Ciaran be discharged from the hospital and, most importantly, how good a superhero is Nuala? Second time she has been grounded. She's not off a good start, eh? Lol.**_

_**Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.**_

_**Thanks, guys, you're all amazing.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Friday, 20th June, 2014 at 05:00pm**


	17. Mutant Turtles

**Author's Note:** This chapter was actually quite fun to write. Let me know what you think when you reach the bottom.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Smilingbringsjoy** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

It had been almost a week since Tommy had joined the Rangers. He had been exceptionally helpful in battle against Rita's monsters, and Nuala had even forgiven him for his hand in what had happened to her brother.

Meanwhile, Ciaran Archer had been released from the hospital. He had been ordered to get as much bed rest as possible for the next week and a half, or until he felt like he was ready to face anyone again. The only people who actually knew that he had been abducted by the green Ranger were his mother, and the Rangers themselves, nobody else knew about his injuries - or at least knew where they had come from.

Speaking of injuries, Nuala's hand had started to clear up. The stitches were still in her palm, but the wound had started to close. Since the stitches she had had put in weren't ones that fell out on their own or dissolved, she'd made an appointment with the hospital to go back that Friday to have them removed.

"Have you ever had stitches before?" Trini asked. They were at the park, sitting on a picnic bench with Billy and Kim while watching Zack, Jason and Tommy play basketball on the court.

"Yeah. I had a few when I was younger," Nuala said, offhandedly. She was sitting in the centre of the picnic table with Ellis between her legs. The baby was playing with the new toy that his mother had bought for him the day before. "I once sliced my ankle open with my new ice skates."

"Ouch," Kim said, wincing at the mental image. "Bet that hurt."

"Honestly, I didn't feel much," Nuala said. "I had been skating and I had fallen, so I was pumping with adrenaline when it happened."

"The adrenaline numbed you from the pain," Billy said.

"Mm-hm," Nuala nodded. She looked up and saw Jason steal the ball from Zack, dribble it towards the basket and jump. "Come on, Jase!" she called.

"Yeah!" Jason exclaimed as the ball dunked through the net.

"Whoo-hoo!" Kim cheered high-fiving Nuala.

"Now it's time for my slammer-jammer, double wammer, hip-hop it, 'cause-you-can't-stop-it, big-disgrace-'cause-it's-in-your-face long shot," Zack said, dancing around the court with the ball. He threw ball from centre court and it went straight through the basket.

"Whoo!" Trini shouted, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Totally styling moves, Zack," Kim called.

Shaking her head, Nuala looked down at Ellis to see him watching the boys while chewing on the ear of his stuffed bear. Since finding it at the command centre, Ellis hadn't wanted to part with it.

"Looks like tiger toes wants to play," Nuala said, looking back up to see Jason had swapped with Tommy. "Maybe not now, OK, baby?"

Kim giggled and turned around to play with Ellis. She took the stuffed animal from him and pretended to walk it around in front of the baby; she even spoke in a high-pitched voice. Ellis cooed and reached for the stuffed animal, he babbled in his own language, as if having a conversation with the bear, and then tugged it from Kim's hands.

"Well, there goes that conversation," Kim said, chuckling.

Nuala smiled and hugged her son to her. She was grateful to her new friends, unlike those she had left in Dublin, Kim, Billy and the others accepted her for who she was - baby and all.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

With Zack dominating the court, Tommy was having a hard time trying to get the ball from him. He rolled his eyes and looked to Jason, inviting him back into the game. The red Ranger took the opportunity and stole the ball from Zack, passed it to Tommy and watched as the green Ranger took a slam dunk.

"And it's in!" Jason grinned, as the ball bounced as it hit the court again. Tommy grabbed it and passed to Jason, but the ball was stolen by Zack, and then re-stolen by Tommy. Jumping up to make a dunk, Tommy slipped as Zack hit the ball from his hands, but before he could fall over the black Ranger caught his hand to support him.

"You alright?" Zack asked, as the ball rolled away.

"Ball," Ellis said, pointing the bouncy sphere.

"You want the ball?" Nuala asked.

"Yeh," Ellis said, causing Nuala to coo at him. Climbing down off of the picnic table, Nuala carried Ellis over to where the ball had rolled, but stopped dead as a swarm of putty patrollers materialized around her.

A scream escaped Nuala's lips, drawing the attention of her friends.

"Nuala, duck!" Jason shouted as he run towards her.

Clutching Ellis close, Nuala ducked and Jason jumped over her, kicking a putty away from the mother and son.

"Stay close," Jason said, catching Nuala's wrist and spinning her around so she was hiding behind her. The silver Ranger nodded and glanced around. She could barely hold her own in a fight, but when she had Ellis with her it was a different ball game.

"Mummy!" Ellis cried, clinging onto his mother as the putties garbled and surrounded them. Clutching her son with both arms, Nuala kicked up and planted a kick in the chest of the closest putty. She ducked as another jumped at her, and allowed it to sail over her back, only to be kicked by Jason as he spun around and kicked high.

"Look out!" Jason said, pulling Nuala to him, and kicking another putty that had jumped at the silver Ranger. Rolling across Jason's back, Nuala dealt with another putty that had crept up on them.

"These guys don't know when to quit," Nuala said. "Hey, wait!" she added as the putties rushed past her and Jason, after Zack. The cornered the black Ranger at the posts, but disappeared before the others could reach them.

"Where'd they go?" Tommy asked, looking around.

"Hopefully far away," Nuala said, checking Ellis for any injuries. There were none, thankfully. "If we're lucky."

"When are we ever that lucky?" Zack asked, tossing the ball at Tommy. It was his point.

"Aw, man, I'm late for karate practice," Tommy said. "We'll finish later." He threw the ball back at Zack and walked away.

"Hey, all this activity has left me famished," Billy said, spotting a hot dog stand at the edge of the court.

"I'm hungry, too," Trini agreed.

"Hey, Trini, get me one with everything," Zack called after the yellow Ranger.

"And then some," Jason added.

"You want some?" Billy asked Nuala, as she walked with him back to the edge of the court.

Nuala smiled and shook her head. "No, thanks, I'm good," she said, grabbing the baby bag from the picnic table. She opened it and rummaged through looking for the small bag of fresh apples her mother had cut up that morning.

"Cute kid."

Nuala looked up as Bulk and Skull reached the picnic table she was at, and sat down opposite her. "Thanks," she said, opening the bag of apples and putting on in Ellis's hand. Instantly it was in Ellis's mouth.

"Aren't you going to share?" Skull asked, holding out his hand and smiling.

"Nope," Nuala said, zipping up the bag and stuffing it back into her baby bag. "They're the only things I have for him."

"What, no candy?" Bulk asked. "What kind of mother are you?"

"I'd rather my kid eat fruit than candy," Nuala said. "It's healthier for him."

Bulk and Skull rolled their eyes.

"You're one of these health nuts, aren't you?" Bulk asked.

"Yeah, leave the kid eat what he wants," Skull said, fishing a candy bar from his pocket. He opened it and held it up for Ellis. The little boy took one look at the chocolate and took it in hand. He looked from the apple to the chocolate, and then threw the candy bar back at Skull.

Nuala bit her lip to keep from laughing, but a smile still forced its way onto her lips. But Zack and the others didn't even try to hide their amusement.

"Guess that told you, huh, boys?" Jason asked, wandering over.

"Yeah, Nuala has her son taught well," Zack agreed, bumping Nuala lightly with the ball.

Bulk scowled at Skull, and then looked back to the group of friends. "No one asked you, dweebs, clear off because this is our space."

"Yeah? It's our space too," Jason said, "and that's our friend you're harassing."

"Aw, and I bet their mommies said they can't play with us," Bulk said to Skull in a childish voice. Skull laughed annoyingly.

"You guys are so funny," Kim quipped sarcastically. "Why don't you just go back to the circus where you came from?"

"Hey, Bulk, is the circus really in town?" Skull asked, excitedly.

"That was an insult, bubble brain," Bulk retorted, "and now she's going to pay for it." He grabbed Kim's arm and pulled her down onto his lap.

"Hey, let her go," Zack said, starting around the side of the table. Nuala scrambled out of her seat, grabbed Ellis and her baby bag, and ducked behind Jason as Skull tried to chase her but ended up tripping over the bench and falling face first into the grass.

Trini and Billy, both of whom had returned with the others hot dogs laughed at the tumble.

"Idiot!" Bulk grumbled, tossing Kim at Zack and struggling to stand up. He managed to get one leg over the bench, but struggled as the other became wedged. He tugged and tugged but found that he couldn't release himself. "Get over here, numbskull!" he shouted at Skull.

Scrambling to help his friend, Skull wrapped his arms under Bulk's forearms and tugged - freeing him from the table. Unfortunately the momentum sent Skull tumbling backwards and the two crashed into hot dog stand causing mustard, ketchup, sausages and buns to crash down on top of them.

"Now that's what I call hot dogs with everything on them," Zack laughed as he and Kim rejoined Nuala and Jason.

"Hey, you two guys are going to have to pay for all that," the hot dog man said, pointing at the two boys.

"You got any money?" Bulk asked Skull. Skull shook his head.

"If I you can't pay, then I figure it's going to take about two weeks for you guys to work off what you owe me," the man said, packing up the stand and forcing Bulk and Skull to push it away.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Once Bulk and Skull had been hauled away, the Rangers turned to Nuala who was nursing Ellis again.

"At least Ellis knows never to take candy from strangers," Kim said, ticking the baby's tummy. Ellis chuckled and sucked on the apple piece in his hand. He never usually munched on it until after he had sucked all the juice out.

Nuala smiled and kissed the side of her son's head.

"Come on, guys, let's finish the game," Zack said after he had finished his hot dog. Jason agreed and the two rushed back to the court. Taking their time, the others followed. Trini, Kim and Billy ate their hot dogs, while Nuala cradled Ellis, after he had finished his apples she gave him a bottle of squash to drink.

Jason dribbled the ball towards the basket and leapt up to dunk it, but Zack beat him to it. Jumping up at the same time as his friend, the black Ranger knocked the ball out of Jason's hands and allowed it to roll off the court. Before any of them could retrieve it, it exploded.

Kim screamed as Nuala jumped, and Ellis let out a cry of panic.

"It's Squatt and Baboo," Nuala said, spotting the two in the bushes. They were accompanied by what appeared to be a turtle with a traffic light sticking out of its back.

"It's Morphin' time!" Jason said.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Once morphed, Jason glanced around at the others. "Guys, rally around Nuala, make sure Ellis is protected!"

"Right!" the others nodded, making sure that Nuala was behind each of them. She was still able to fight, but it wouldn't have been at top form. She was going to need help.

"Quick, the go beam!" Baboo shouted. The green light on the turtle's head flashed, and a beam hit Trini. She started to run on the spot, and then turned and run away.

"Hey, Trini, come back!" Nuala called.

"What did they do to her?" Kim asked.

"What have you done to Trini?" Jason shouted, turning back to the bad guys.

Squatt laughed as Trini disappeared from sight.

"Get them!" Jason shouted. They rushed forward and planted individual kicks into the turtle's shell. It grumbled as it flew through the air and landed on the path behind the basketball court.

"What are you guys doing down here?" Nuala asked Baboo and Squatt. She was aware that Rita rarely sent these two down with a monster.

"Nothing to do with you!" Squatt retorted, childishly.

"Yeah. Wait until our monster is done with you," Baboo said.

"Alright, you want to play ball?" the monster asked. "Batter up!" his arm slid into his shell and was replaced with a baseball bat.

"Here you go, Shellshock," Squatt said, holding up a ball. "You ready?" He tossed it into the air and the turtle hit it with his bat. As soon as the bat connected with the ball, it multiplied into several, showering the Rangers.

Nuala turned her back to the attack, and covered Ellis from harm.

"Now the stop light!" Shellshock said as the red light on his back flashed. The beam hit Nuala, Billy, Zack and Kim, freezing them in place. "Haha! Now they're frozen and helpless. I'll take care of them once and for all." His head slid into his body and, just like the arm, was replaced with another weapon, this time a canon.

"Alright, Shellshock, don't miss now!" Baboo said.

Jumping in front of his friends, Jason took the brunt end of the attack. He jumped back to his feet, and fired his blaster at the three monsters.

"Hey, you almost got the camera," Squatt shouted, covering the small device in his hands. He had been filming the whole attack in order to show Rita the good work he and Baboo had done. "We're not through with you yet!" he growled before disappearing.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

With the help of Alpha, Jason had managed to teleport his friends back to the command centre. "Zordon, they haven't moved since you teleported us here," he said.

"I was afraid of this," Alpha cried. "Shellshock used his stuff like a freeze ray on them. There's no known cure for it, Jason."

"It can't be cured?" Jason asked, devastated.

"Not true. There is a rare flower called the Deandra. It can reverse the effects of the ray," Zordon explained.

"Where can I get one?" Jason asked.

"Deandras grow in only one place," Zordon continued. "It is a place called 'The Mountain of Hope.' I have sent Trini there to find it. Observe the viewing globe." Jason turned to face the glowing sphere. An image of a mountain reflected back at him. "This is where Trini must find the Deandra's flowers, before Rita destroys them."

"Don't worry, Zordon, I'll never let Rita defeat the Power Rangers," Jason swore.

"Ai-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha cried as the alarm started to blare. "Shellshock is destroying the city!"

"I've got to stop him," Jason said.

"May the power be yours, Jason," Zordon said.

"I'm out of here!" Jason said, disappearing in a column of red light. He arrived back downtown and instantly summoned his Tyrannosaurus to his aid.

"All right. Let's rumble," Shellshock said, facing off against Jason.

"You're turtle soup, Shellshock," Jason shouted. Unfortunately Shellshock proved to be a worthy opponent, equipped with more weapons than Jason had ever encountered from one monster to date. "Zordon," he called, linking into the command centre. "He's too much for my dinosaur. I need help."

Shellshock laughed as his head was replaced by the cannon, and he opened fire on Jason and the Tyrannosaurus.

"Aw man!" Jason said, struggling to keep his dinosaur on his feet. Linking his communicator up with the only available connection, Jason called for help if the last Ranger. "Tommy, I need your help."

"_I'm on my way, buddy,_" Tommy replied.

Stumbling from another attack, the Tyrannosaurus hit the ground, but before Shellshock could attack for a second time, he was knocked away by the Dragon Zord.

"Alright, Tommy," Jason said, relieved to see his friend. "Let's do it."

"Oh, boy. Now I'll have twice as much fun," Shellshock said, looking from the Dragon Zord to the Tyrannosaurus.

Swinging its tail around, the dragon Zord knocked Shellshock into Jason, who delivered a punch to the face. Shellshock cried out as he was sent flying backwards into the dragon Zords fist, and the crashed against a building which crumbled to the ground.

"Oh, no, I've got dirt in my eyes," Shellshock cried, frantically rubbing his short arms at his face. "I can't see. I don't know where to aim my ray."

"Alright!" Jason said, starting forward. If the monster couldn't see then he was vulnerable.

"Not!" the monster said, hitting both Tommy and Jason with his stop ray. He laughed as the two Zords froze, mid-step.

"Oh, no! My controls are frozen!" Jason said, tugging at the control panel. "Now to finish you off!"

"Jason! Tommy! I've got the flower!" Trini shouted, running onto the scene. She jumped up and landed on Shellshocks head, holding the flower high into the air. "You're history, Shellshock; these flowers can reverse your powers! By the power of the saber-toothed Tiger, I command you to release us from Shellshocks power!"

She waved the flowers around, showering Shellshock in its pollen.

"I hate this stuff!" Shellshock sneezed, as his powers started to disappear. Trini stopped moving, Jason's controls became unstuck, and back at the command centre Billy, Kim, Zack and Nuala unfroze.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Alpha watched as the four Rangers around him started to move. "Way to go, Trini," he cheered, "they're back!"

"Whoa," Kim said, looking around and then up at Zordon. "That was weird. I thought I'd end up in the mall as a mannequin."

"What happened to us anyway?" Zack asked, confused on how they could've been at the park one minute, and at the command centre the next.

"Rita's monster, Shellshock, froze you," Zordon explained. "Trini had to find the Deandra flowers to free you."

"So, what's the situation with shellshock now?" Billy asked.

"See for yourselves," Zordon said. "Observe the viewing globe."

Nuala turned to face the sphere, all the while cuddling Ellis, who had seemingly fallen asleep on her shoulder.

"_I don't feel so good,_" Shellshock said as he collapsed to his knees. Now free from moving, Trini jumped from his head and landed on the rooftop beside Tommy.

"Good job, Trini," Jason called. "We'll take it from here, right, Tommy?"

"He won't know what hit him, Jason," Tommy agreed, stepping closer to the edge. "Let's take him!" he played the trumpet fanfare on his flute, and commanded the Dragon Zord to attack.

"Alright! We got him!" Jason said. "Now, let's finish him!"

The Tyrannosaurus lowered his head, and fired a laser into the ground. It blew up dirt as it travelled towards Shellshock, knocking him off of his feet and causing him to disappear.

"All right!" Kim and Zack yelled, as Nuala and Billy high-fived one another in cheer.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

With the battle over, and the monster defeated, the rangers returned to the park. It had been a glorious day, save for the interruption from Rita, but neither of the friends wanted to waste the rest of the afternoon by giving up on what was supposed to have been their day off.

"Man, am I glad we blew that bogus turtle into oblivion," Jason said, rubbing his wrist.

"I never want to see another turtle again," Kim said, folding her arms.

"You can say that again," Trini agreed.

"Am I glad Ciaran's not here," Nuala said. "He's always wanted a turtle."

"I doubt he would've wanted Shellshock," said Billy.

Nuala looked considerate. "True," she said, smiling as Tommy arrived from the other side of the court. He called out and waved in greeting, before taking his place in front of Zack.

"So, Zack, point game?" the green Ranger asked. "All the fighting made me hungry and I do believe the deal was loser buys lunch."

"Let's do it," Zack grinned.

"This is not going to end well," Nuala said, shaking her head but unable to keep the smile from her face.

"All right," Tommy nodded, following Zack onto the court.

"Ding, ding. Round two," Jason called from the sidelines.

"Aw, loser's gonna hurt so bad you're gonna have to call a doctor, an ambulance, a medic," Zack teased.

"Yeah, for you," Tommy laughed.

"Step back, 'cause it's time for my slammer-jammer, double wammer, hip-hop it, 'cause I'll never stop-high-falutin', rootin' and tootin', lawless, flawless, jawless jam," Zack said, diving around Tommy and dunking the ball into the basket.

"Yeah!" Jason said high-fiving Zack, as Nuala joined Tommy. The two shared a secret smile and Tommy passed the ball to Nuala, while he took Ellis from her arms. The little boy clung to his teddy, whilst resting his head on Tommy's shoulder.

"Huh, waiter, he'll take the check," Zack said, pointing at Tommy.

"Mhm, not so fast, Zack," said Nuala, tossing the ball into the air and catching it. "You want to double your odds?"

Zack exchanged a look with the others, and chuckled. "Nuala, I could never punish a pretty girl like you," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh, I don't plan on letting you punish me," Nuala said, smirking.

"Nuala, I am not playing against you," Zack said, folding his arms. "It'd be unfair."

"Why, because I'm a girl?"

"Partly," Zack nodded.

"I get it," Nuala nodded, throwing the ball at him. "Your ego won't allow you to play me because you're afraid of losing to a girl. Fair enough."

"Oooh!" Jason chuckled, surprised at Nuala's change. He'd never seen this side of her before. Normally she was quiet and reserved.

Zack too, looked surprised. "Is that a taunt?" he asked. "Are you taunting me?"

"It's only a taunt if you take the bait," Nuala said, shrugging.

"OK, Okay..." Zack said, nodding and chuckling. "You wanna play?"

"Mm-hmm," Nuala said.

"You're positive?" Zack asked he needed to be sure that this was real.

"Just get on the court, Zack," Nuala said, rolling her eyes. She turned her back on the others and the net, and faced Zack as he took his position at centre court.

Trini, Kim and Billy hesitated and exchanged looks. They had no idea what was going on, they weren't even aware that Nuala knew _how_ to play basketball.

"All right," Zack chuckled. He bounced the ball several times; aware that Nuala's eyes were drawn to it, watching it hit the court and then bounce back to his hand. He faked a forward march, but it wasn't enough to trick Nuala as she easily stole the ball from his possession, and effectively turned the table on him.

"Yeah, Nuala!" Kim cheered.

"You still liking the odds?" Nuala asked, grinning at Zack. "You want? Come get it!"

Zack scoffed and shook his head, diving for the ball. Nuala laughed as she dribbled the ball around him, grabbed in her hands and jumped up at the net. She dunked it through the basket.

"Oh, did you see that?!" Jason laughed high-fiving Nuala as she landed beside him.

Kim and Trini both laughed as they, and the others surrounded Nuala. Each one just as amazed as the last.

"Where'd you learn to play like that?" Zack asked, retrieving the basketball, as Tommy returned Ellis to his mother.

"I played a lot of netball when I was in school," Nuala answered. "Its different rules, but the same concept."

"You, my daring friend," said Zack, wrapping his arm around Nuala's shoulders, "is full of surprises."

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Sunday, 22 June 2014 at 10:54pm**


	18. The Fear Factor

**Author's Note:** Any _**Mako Mermaid **_fans out there? I recently finished the series, having taken a year to complete it, and am wondering if I should go ahead with the plans of writing a story based on its series. If any of you have seen it, and do enjoy it, let me know if you'd be willing to read a fic from me. Thanks.

**Dedications:** N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"Hey, Nuala," Ciaran grinned, waving his sister over to the table where Billy and Trini had set up their insect specimens. "Check it out. A few of your friends are here."

Nuala wrinkled her nose at her brother, and shivered at the cockroaches as they scuttled around inside their habitats. "Urgh! They are nasty!" she said, looking away.

"Don't like roaches, Nuala?" Billy asked, joining the sibling. He was carrying a dozen petitions in his hands.

"Not since Ciaran smashed a jar of them in my bedroom when we were kids, no," Nuala said, swatting her brother for extra measure.

Billy chuckled and removed the cockroaches from sight, replacing them with a brown-haired tarantula instead. "How do you fair against spiders?" he asked.

"Tarantula's don't bother me," Nuala said. "It's the fast ones I don't like. I mean, I'm not like Zack, but I just don't like it when they're moving." She shuddered.

"What's all this for anyway?" Ciaran asked, looking around at the other specimens.

"We're trying to save the forest spirit statue," Trini answered, walking over.

"The what?" Nuala asked, confused.

"It's a part of Angel Grove's history," Billy answered, handing Nuala a petition paper. The silver Ranger took the paper and read it over, before adding her name to the list. She then passed it to Ciaran who did the same.

"What's the big deal?" Bulk asked, leaning against the wall near the tables. "It's just a pile of old concrete."

"The big deal is that the city council wants to tear it down and put in a barbecue pit," Trini answered.

"Good. Maybe we'll get some decent chicken and ribs," Bulk said, happily.

"Yeah. Some decent chicken and ribs," Skull repeated, much to Bulk's chagrin.

"Am I the only one who things 'Polly Parrot' whenever I see these two?" Ciaran asked, pointing at the two bullies. Nuala chuckled and wrapped her arm around her brother, pulling him to her. She knew of Bulk and Skull's tendency to not see the light side of a joke, and wouldn't have put it past them to take a swing at her brother.

"It's not good," Trini said, shaking her head. "Everybody's forgotten why the statue was put up in the first place."

"Right. According to the legend, the forest spirit provides a buffer against harmful arthropods," Billy explained.

Nuala looked around to see that many people who had gathered were lost and confused at Billy's explanation. She rolled her eyes. "It's to protect us against bad insects," she translated.

"I'm for that, 'cause crawlers give me the heebie-jeebies," Zack said from near the table. He jumped as the brown-haired tarantula moved around inside its box. "Yuk! Especially spiders!"

"You know, Zack, a tarantula's appearance is worse than its bite," Nuala said, walking over the cage. She opened the lid and stuck her hand inside. The arachnid crawled onto her palm, and she lifted it out into the air. "See," she said, holding it up to the black ranger who had backed away considerably.

Jason and Tommy chuckled as Zack almost backed into them.

"See the flower in the statue's hair?" Trini asked, pointing at the item on the black and white picture she had of the statue. "That's to remind us most insects are helpful to humans."

"How do bugs help humans?" Skull asked Bulk.

"Let's find out," Bulk said, picking up a box of cockroaches. He opened the lid and tossed the container into the air, the roaches flew high and then landed on the unsuspecting teenagers near them. Nuala screamed and threw the spider in her hands aside, as a cockroach landed on her arm, she frantically brushed it off.

"Somebody get if off! Somebody get it! Aah!" Zack yelled as the spider Nuala had thrown landed on his shoulder, and started to crawl towards his face.

"Hold on, Zack," Tommy said, walking over with his binder. "Don't move! I've got it! I've got it!" He raised his binder and hit it against Zack's shoulder, but the spider had already disappeared. Zack moaned in pain, but he was relieved that the spider had gone.

Nuala shuddered as Billy removed the last of the roaches from her jacket, and added them to the box on the table. Then, still visibly shaken, Nuala allowed Ciaran to lead her away from the petition table and into the science lab, Billy following.

"Are you OK?" Ciaran asked. Nuala nodded, tears in her eyes. "Just don't think about them," he said.

"It's easier said than done," Nuala said.

"I know. But... think of Ellis," Ciaran said. "Think about how much he cheers you up, and how less scary he is. But remember to breathe at the same time."

Remembering her breathing techniques, Nuala closed her eyes and thought of her son, and not the chaos that had ensued outside with Bulk and Skull.

"Uh, Billy, I think there's something in your pocket," Ciaran said, pointing at the chest pocket on Billy's shirt. It was wriggling around and trying to get out.

"Oh, that's Jack," Billy said, reaching inside and pulling out a small white mouse with a pink tail.

Nuala cooed and reached out to run her finger down the mouse' back. It squeezed and stopped dead, sitting in Billy's hand to run its paw over its face. The nose twitched.

"Oh, I love mice," Nuala said.

"I don't," Ciaran said, taking a step away. "Vermin."

"He can hear you," Nuala said, scowling at her brother. She held her palm out to Billy and smiled. "Can I?" she asked, wanting to hold the mouse.

"Sure," Billy said, handing Jack over. For a minute the mouse sniffed at Nuala's palm, his whiskers tickling her and causing to her giggle, but soon he settled down and scurried down her arm to her shoulder, he nuzzled the crook of her neck, and Nuala bent her head in response. The mouse squeaked.

"I think he likes you," Billy said, watching in amazement.

"He's not the only one," Ciaran teased, looking between the silver and blue Rangers. Nuala caught Billy's eye, bit her lower lip and looked away, as Billy blushed a light crimson. Ciaran chuckled, it was obvious that both his sister and Billy had hidden feelings for each other; they were both just too hesitant to admit it.

Nuala giggled as Jack scurried back down her arm and curled up in her palm.

"Are you feeling better?" Ciaran asked.

"Yeah," Nuala said with a smile. "I kinda feel bad for Trini though. Bulk and Skull have got a lot of nerve for what they did. Mr. Barts is not going to be happy."

"Let's go find out how she fared," Ciaran said, heading for the door. He checked to make sure all the creepy crawlies had been picked up, and then retreated around the corner to where the Ranger's lockers were. Billy and Nuala followed with the latter still playing with Jack.

"Hey guys," Kim said as they approached. "What you got there, Nuala?"

Nuala smiled and showed them the white mouse in her hands. He was curled into a ball and seemed to be snoozing.

"Oh, how cute!" Kim cooed. "I always wanted a little mouse for a pet."

"Shh! He's not a pet," said Billy. "His name's Jack, my research assistant."

"But he's still cute," Nuala said, half-glancing at Billy. The blue Ranger rolled his eyes and, hesitantly, put his arm around her shoulders as she, Trini and Kim continued to coo over Jack.

"Yeah, well, I like mice just a little bit more than I like those creepy-crawly bugs. Ugh!" Zack said, shivering at the mere thought of the insects.

The team laughed at the black Ranger, unaware that Bulk and Skull had found them for the second time that day.

"Oh, look, the geeks have a new mascot," Bulk sneered. Nuala closed her hands lightly around Jack as she turned to face the bullies.

"Right. A new mascot," Skull repeated.

"Well, he's smarter than some humanoids I know," Zack said.

"Hey! You can't talk about Bulk like that," said Skull, causing the team and Ciaran to laugh. Bulk rolled his eyes and elbowed his friend aside.

"All I know, is he never failed an I.Q. test," Zack added.

"Oh, yeah?" Bulk asked, grabbing a book from Ciaran. "Well, let's see if he can handle an obstacle course." He threw the book at Nuala, causing her to drop Jack in surprise.

"Jack! No!" Nuala and Billy shouted.

Jack scurried across the floor and up Skull's pant leg, much to the friend's amusement. Dancing around Bulk, Skull cried in anguish as he tried to remove the mouse from his clothes and then jumped into Bulk's arms.

Stepping forward, Billy reclaimed Jack from Skull's jacket.

"Oh, he's terrified," Nuala said, stroking the mouse's fur as he tried to hide in Billy's hand.

"He may be terrified," Jason said, "but he's also very brave."

"That's for sure," Ciaran agreed.

"Nice catch, Bulk," Kim said, referring to the fact that Bulk was carrying Skull bridal style.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After school that day, Nuala and her brother found themselves in the forest outside of Angel Grove. They had agreed to help Trini replace the insects that had been lost due to Bulk and Skull's antics that morning.

"This is a perfect place for acquiring insects," Billy exclaimed. He was decked out in full gear for collecting insects, complete with a manual.

"Where are Tommy and Zack?" Kim asked.

"Tommy's going to catch up with us later," Trini answered, "and you know how Zack is around bugs."

"Especially spiders," Jason chuckled.

"Come on, he has a hip-hopkido class to teach," Ciaran defended.

"Weren't you supposed to be attending that?" Nuala asked.

Ciaran nodded. "Yeah, but I can't do much with my side still stitched up," he said.

"It's been nearly a month," Nuala said. "It should be healed by now."

Ciaran shrugged and walked off through the long grass looking for insects. He stopped, smirked and picked up a beetle from a leaf. "Hey, Nuala, catch." he said, tossing it at her.

Nuala screamed and jumped backwards into Jason. "Not funny, Ciaran!" she snapped.

"I thought you weren't afraid of insects?" Jason chuckled.

"I'm not," Nuala said. "I just don't like beetles. Beetles and cockroaches. Ugh!"

Trini and Kim smiled and shook their heads, before looking around at the many hiding places for were insects could hide.

"Well, this looks like a good place as any to start," Jason said. "Let's spread out. See what we can find."

"Just watch out for the beetles," Ciaran teased, picking up the beetle he had thrown and putting it in his box.

Nuala glowered at him. "Shut it, before I go looking for a butterfly," she said.

"You wouldn't?" Ciaran asked, aghast. He hated butterflies - or flutterflies, as he liked to call them - and moths.

"You're afraid of butterflies?" Trini asked, finding a cricket on the inside of some long grass. She picked it up and put it in her jar.

"And Moths," Ciaran said.

"Anything that flies," Nuala added.

Ciaran shivered and run off to join Jason, while Kim called Billy over to check the type of beetle she had just found. Nuala shuddered and looked away. "Ooh," she said, spotting a pale butterfly on a nearby tree, she checked to see where Ciaran was before climbing up to get it.

"You know, they aren't so bad once you get to know them," Nuala said, jumping down from the tree.

"Totally," Kim agreed.

Ciaran smiled and reached for a snail, only to pause as garbling noise reached his ears. He looked up and gasped as a horde of putties dropped down around him. "Nuala!" he yelled.

"Ciaran!" Nuala shouted.

"Oh no, Putties!" Jason said. "Guys, spread out, Nuala get Ciaran!"

Nuala nodded and put down her butterfly. She jumped over the putty patrollers and kicked two in the stomach. They fell like dominoes as the others rushed away from the two siblings, and attacked the other Rangers.

"Do you remember the moves Jason and Zack have taught you so far?" Nuala asked her brother.

"Yeah?" Ciaran nodded.

"Now's the time to use them," Nuala said, kicking up at another putty as it run at her. She double punched another in the stomach and flipped back over Ciaran, double kicking another putty that had snuck up behind him.

Ciaran meanwhile, was doing his best to hold his own with the few moves Zack and Jason had taught him. He threw a punch for a putty's head, but the foot soldier caught his arm and twisted it, Ciaran gasped and kicked the putty in the stomach and then flipped him over.

"Need a lift?" Nuala asked, grabbing her brother's hand. She pulled him to her, grabbed his other hand and then flipped him over her head as Ciaran pushed off from the ground.

Once all the putties had been destroyed, the Rangers regrouped.

"What was that all about?" Trini asked.

"I don't know," Jason shrugged. "But you can be sure Rita's up to no good."

Nuala nodded and wrapped her arms around her brother. She hugged him to her and then remembered she'd lost a butterfly in all the chaos. "Maybe we should get out of here before anymore turn up," she said. "Or worse."

"Yeah. I'm sure we've got enough specimens for Mr. Barts," Billy agreed.

"Between putties and bugs, I'm wiped," Kim said.

"I hear ya," Trini said. "Let's head back."

"Or not," Ciaran said, as Jason's communicator beeped.

"Zordon, we read you," the red ranger said, activating the device.

"_Rangers, Zackary is in trouble!_" Zordon answered. "_Get to the forest spirit status now!_"

"Right," Jason nodded, looking to the others. "Ciaran, you better head to the command centre."

Ciaran nodded and disappeared in a flash of white, while the others fell into formation.

"It's morphin' time," Jason commanded.

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Immediately appearing downtown, Nuala and the others arrived just in time to get attacked by the sticky silk of a spider's web.

"What is this stuff?" Jason asked.

"I can't move!" Trini cried.

"I'm stuck!" Kim and Nuala called, struggling to remove the silk from their bodies.

Seeing as most of his friends had taken the attack for him, Zack wasn't as trapped as the spider and Goldar believed. So as the two monsters rushed at the fallen Rangers, he pushed off from the ground and took them by surprise. Summoning his blade blaster to hand, he fired at the spider, knocking it back a peg or two.

"Look out!" Nuala shouted, pointing at the ground behind the spider. Rita's wand had landed in the park and caused the already huge - beyond proportions - spider to grow even bigger.

"We need Dinozord power!" Jason called, summoning the Zords. "Let's do it!"

Jumping off of the ground, the rangers landed in their respective Zords.

"Ready to rock and roll," Zack said, powering up the Mastodon.

"Time for some Megazord power!" Jason commanded.

Nuala waited until the Megazord battle mode was completed, and then combined the Dire Wolf with it. In the meantime she had already shown the spider her ice breath. Once combined with the Megazord, the silver Ranger popped up beside her teammates, and used her shield her Zord created and its spear to attack the oncoming arachnid.

Growling in annoyance, the spider fired several rounds of goop at the rangers, preventing Jason from moving the feet.

"The shield is done," Nuala announced, as whatever the goop was seemed to eat through the metal.

The spider laughed and showered the Megazord in silky vines, forming a spider's web. It then used the web as a channel for his lasers.

"Disengage the Megazord!" Jason commanded, and the battle mode broke apart, returning to their individual forms. While the others recovered from the disengagement, and Nuala's Zord reassembled to form the Dire Wolf, Jason took on the spider alone. He swept the Tyrannosaurus' tail across the floor and knocked the arachnid off of his feet.

Recovering first, Billy fired his tricera-lasers at the spider, knocking it away from Jason and giving the others enough time to prepare themselves for battle. The spider growled in annoyance and stormed towards the blue Ranger. He stopped as he found his path blocked by two animals of the Ice Age.

"All right. You mess with my friends and I'm gonna mess with you," Zack said. "Ready, Nuala?"

"All systems locked," Nuala replied. "Let's get him!"

"Let's show him what Mastodon and Dire Wolf power is all about," Zack said, pulling back on his controls. Nuala did the same and fired her ice breath at the spider - again. The arachnid wailed as it was hit with two blasts of frozen water and air, freezing it in its tracks.

"Nighty-night, web-face," Nuala laughed.

But the spider had other ideas, and shook off the frost - much to the silver and black ranger's surprise.

"He shook free!" Zack exclaimed.

"Whoa!" Nuala cried as the spider fired laser blasts and her and Zack, causing them to crash into the side of a mountain. "We need help!"

"Zordon, come in!" Jason called over the comms link inside his Zord.

"_Yes, Jason?_" Zordon replied.

"We need Tommy's help!"

"_Alpha is contacting him now,_" Zordon answered.

"Look out!" Kim shouted as the spider knocked Jason off of his feet, and rounded on her, Trini and Billy.

Forcing her Dire Wolf back to its feet, the great animal shook its shaggy head and snarled at the spider. He was not amused.

"Are you OK, Zack?" Nuala asked, pawing forward. Trees broke underfoot of her Zord, and it charged at the spider, ramming its head into its gut.

Meanwhile, Trini's Sabre-Tooth had scaled the side of the mountain and pounced on the unexpected arachnid. It wailed around, flinging the saber-toothed tiger off, and crashing it into Kim's pterodactyl, knocking the bird from the sky.

"This isn't working!" Zack cried, punching his controls in anguish.

"Looks like you guys could use a little help from the dragon," Tommy said as he arrived. He raised his flute to his lips and summoned the dragonzord to action. While at first the dragonzord seemed to have just as much luck as the other Zords did, he finally put the spider down for the count when he fired the dragon missiles from his fingertips.

"We need the Megadragonzord to finish him off," Jason said. "You guys ready?"

"Online," Billy said.

"Im with you," Trini agreed.

"Count me in!" Zack said, ready to be rid of the spider monster once and for all. "How about you, Nuala?"

"I got you covered, Zack," Nuala said. She had learned from Zordon that while the Dragon Zord could only combine with the Triceratops, the Sabre-Toothed Tiger and the Mastodon, her Zord could provide additional arsenal for both the Megadragonzord and the main Megazord.

Zack grinned and punched his right fist into his left palm. "Let's bring our Zords together and blast this bug," he said. As the three Zords combined with the Dragonzord, Nuala's Zord broke apart for the second time and slotted into place on the new Megazord configuration, and Nuala popped up inside the cockpit behind her friends.

"Ready, Zack?" Nuala asked.

"Born ready!" Zack said, twisting the dire spear through the air. The Megazord gripped it with both hands and stabbed it straight through the spider, using it to channel their lasers down the shaft and into the arachnid. It wailed and roared in agony, before keeling over and exploding.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After the battle and Zack had gone to check up on his students, the rest of the Rangers retired to Nuala's house so she could check in on her mother and Ellis. Chaos and Ceaser barked and run out of the house into the garden as Nuala let herself in.

"Chaos, Ceaser!" Ciaran shouted, excitedly before he was knocked over in the dogs haste to get at him. He laughed as he rolled around on the grass with the two dogs licking at his face.

"Oh, I couldn't do that," said Kim, pointing and shaking her head. "At least not with dogs that are considered dangerous."

"Aw, come on, Kim," Nuala said as she returned, balancing Ellis on her hip. "They're not that bad."

"Do you not read?" Kim asked. "Rottweiler's are charted at number two as the most dangerous dogs in America. They're even banned in some states."

Nuala nodded and sat down on the swing seat outside her front door. "I'm aware that they are listed as dangerous dogs, second to the pit bull," she agreed. "But it's not the dog that's the problem; it's the human that trains them. All dogs have the hunter instinct in them. They are powerful dogs, and their key nature is to protect. If they attack, then it's probably in self-defense."

"See, you're supposed to say that," Kim said, sitting beside her friend and holding her arms out to Ellis. The little boy climbed over onto the pink Ranger's lap and reached up to tug at her hair. "They're your dogs. You're supposed to defend them."

Nuala smiled and looked back to see her brother was trying to push the dogs off of him, but they were refusing to help him up. "Ceaser and

Chaos, heel!" she called. Instantly the two dogs left Ciaran, and run up to sit at Nuala's feet. "See," the silver ranger said, turning to smile at Kim. "Harmless."

"Meh," Kim teased, sticking her tongue out at her friend. "Your mummy is a spoil sport," she added to Ellis.

"Hey guys," Zack called as he run to the gate and let himself into the garden. He eyed the two dogs wearily and then joined his friends. "Nuala, your dog's freak me out," he said, sitting on the wooden railing opposite the silver and pink rangers.

"Don't you start," Nuala groaned, reaching down to scratch her dogs behind the ears. They each whined at their affection they were getting.

"How long have you had them?" Tommy asked.

"Six years."

"What's the life expectancy?" Jason asked.

"About ten - twelve years," Nuala replied. "If they don't fall ill within the next couple of years, we could have them for a while."

"Or, you know, Rita doesn't decide to turn them into a monster or something," Ciaran said, sitting down between the two dogs. He leaned back against Ceaser, and coaxed Chaos onto his lap.

The rangers smiled at the youngest Archer. Nuala had a point when she had said that it wasn't the animal that was the problem, but rather the human.

"Hey, Trini, you'll be pleased to know that the forest spirit statue - the original - as been returned," Zack said.

"Really?" Trini asked. She had been worried about the statue's replacement, and that here's and Billy's attempts to get people to protect it would've been in vain. "Now I just hope the city council will reconsider."

"You think they will?" Nuala asked.

"Well, with the number of names we collected today, it'd be pretty hard for them not too," Billy said.

Nuala smiled at the blue Ranger, as Trini looked hopeful. "My fingers are crossed," she said.

"Thanks, Nuala," Trini said.

"No problem."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The next morning at school, Trini found her friends at their lockers. "Hey, guys guess what," she said, jumping up and down excitedly. "The city council decided not to tear down the statue."

"Yeah! All right!" the rangers, along with a few other people in the corridors, cheered.

"That is so great," Kim grinned, hugging her over-excited friend. "What brought on the flip-flop?"

"They couldn't believe how many signatures we got on the petition," Trini answered. "The declared it a historical landmark."

"Cool," Zack said, high-fiving Trini as she passed him to get at her locker.

Nuala grinned and leaned back against her own, her binder over her stomach. "See," she said. "I knew you'd get your win."

"Yeah, I guess keeping your fingers crossed really worked, huh?" Trini laughed.

"Hey, there's a lot of good luck in that," Nuala said, crossing her fingers again. "But no, seriously, who could've said no anyway? You're really enthusiastic about the jobs you take on, Trini, you go above and beyond to try and get people to see the image you're trying to create."

Trini smiled, bashfully, and closed her locker. "Thanks, Nuala," she said. "You're sweet."

Nuala smiled in reply.

"Hey, Zack," Tommy said, turning expectantly to the black Ranger. "Did this experience help you overcome your fear of spiders?"

"Oh, absolutely, man," Zack nodded. "I mean, I can positively say that is one problem I have overcome."

"That's good man, you know that's really good," Tommy encouraged, causing the others to frown and exchange looks. What was Tommy up too? Their answer came in the form of a rubber spider on Zack's shoulder, curtsey of the green Ranger, "because there's a really big one right now on your left shoulder."

"Yeah right," Zack said, looking to the right. He caught sight of the spider in his peripheral vision, and screamed loudly, thrashing around to try and dislodge it. "Ahh! Get it off! Get it off! Nuala, get it off!"

Nuala laughed as she handed her binder to Billy and pushed off of her locker. She grabbed Zack by the shoulders and steadied him. "Stop moving," she said, snatching the rubber arachnid from his shoulder, and throwing it at him.

Zack flinched and the spider landed at his feet.

"You know, that's the reason spider's bite you," Nuala said. "Because you freak out and thrash around. They see it as an attack and they go straight to the defence."

Tommy chuckled, picked up the rubber spider and placed is arm around Zack's shoulders. "It's a good thing you overcame your fear of spiders," he said, as the others laughed loudly at Zack's freak out.

"Not funny, dude!" Zack said, shuddering.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**You know, the ability to write Nuala as a calm and level-headed non-phobic spider person was actually quite hard, considering how terrified of Spiders I actually am. Nasty things. But this chapter was fun to write, even if it did give me a panic attack once or twice - and the scene where Billy and the others were collecting bugs (and the moths at the park) Urgh! So not an episode I could've starred in, I give props to the actors if they actually had any fears in this ep.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Tuesday, 24th June, 2014 at 11:13am**


	19. Halloween: Party Scares

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I had my results back from University. I am graduating next month with a 2:1, and upper class second degree with honours. Whoo-hoo!

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Smilingbringsjoy** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Nuala couldn't believe it had been three months since she had moved from Dublin to Angel Grove. At times it felt like she'd been there a lot longer, and other times it seemed that she hadn't been there for less than a week.

"Ooh! Boon!" Ellis babbled, reaching for one of the many balloons that Billy was carrying into the Youth Centre.

"You can't have one of those, tiger toes," Nuala said. "Ernie needs them for his party."

"I'm sure one won't hurt," Billy said, taking a blue and silver balloon from the bunch and handed it to Ellis. "Ernie won't mind."

"If you're sure," Nuala said, smiling as Ellis tugged at the white ribbon hanging from the balloon.

"You got your costume ready for later?" Billy asked, leading Nuala across the room and tying the balloons up to the rig.

Nuala nodded. "Mhm. My mum's at home adding the final touches to it," she said. "I had to dig through a lot of storage in order to find a suitable dress."

"What are you going as?"

"What are you going as?" Nuala asked, catching the blue ranger off guard.

Billy smiled and shook his head.

"If you can't tell me yours," said Nuala. "I can't tell you mine."

"I guess we'll both have to wait."

Nuala shrugged and nodded.

"Are you dressing him up?" Billy asked, causing Ellis to laugh as he batted the balloon aside.

"Yep. Last year I dressed him as a pumpkin," Nuala answered. "This year he's going to be Tigger."

"From Winnie the Pooh?"

Nuala smiled and nodded. "Yep, he's one of my favourite characters." she said, "and the inspiration for the pet name 'tiger toes.'"

"Cool."

"Plus, he's cute too."

"HEADS UP!" someone shouted from across the room. Billy and Nuala paused in their conversation to see a bucket of white paint sail through the air and land on top of Bulk.

"Hey, Bulk," said Skull, as the rangers gathered around. "You look like a ghost."

Bulk grunted in annoyance, as Skull looked away, motioning to the streamers with the stapler.

"Someone's obviously not in the Halloween spirit," Nuala said, laughing, She quickly checked her watch and turned back to Billy. "I gotta go. I got to pick up a few things for my mother for tonight, and Ciaran's almost finished at practice. I'll see you later."

Billy waved as Nuala hurried back across the Youth Centre, the blue and silver balloon that Ellis had in his hand, trailed behind them.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Later that afternoon, after collecting everything that she needed in town, Nuala returned home to find her mother had finished her outfit for the Halloween party at the Youth Centre. They had managed to transform one of Nuala's old figure skating dresses in a costume, equipped with transparent and glittery wings, as well as green slippers with white cotton balls on the toes.

"You should leave your head down," Lana said, clipping the wings onto the back of her daughter. "Tinkerbell hardly wore her hair up."

"Tink was also a blonde," Nuala said, brushing her red hair from her face. "But I see your point."

"Here, use this," Lana said, taking a green headband from the side drawer. She held it out to Nuala, and the silver Ranger slid it into her hair. Pushing it out of her face. "There, you look perfect."

Nuala smiled and admired herself in the full length mirror. "Thanks, Mum," she said, running her hands over the dress. "It's beautiful."

"Ahoy, me Hearties!" Ciaran said, bursting into the bedroom and waving his sword around. He was dressed in a pirates costume with an eye patch covering one of his eyes.

Nuala and Lana giggled at the fourteen year old, while Ellis, who was standing in his cot, babbled happily at his uncle.

"Well, blow me down," Ciaran said, swaggering over to the toddler, and picking him up out of the cot. "Don't we look mighty fine, my lad?"

"Oh, you're going to have a blast," Lana said.

"Why don't you come with us, Mum?" Nuala asked. "We got time to make another costume."

Lana smiled and shook her head. "No, you guys go and have fun," she said. "I'll have plenty of time here handing out chocolate and sweets to trick o' treaters."

"If you're sure," Nuala said, taking Ellis from Ciaran. He was wearing a one-piece tigger outfit that she had seen while at the mall the other day with Kim and Trini.

"I am," Lana said, herding her children towards the door. "Now go and have fun. I'll see you later."

Nuala smiled and kissed her mother's cheek.

"Bye Mum," Ciaran said, kissing his mother's cheek and following his sister out of the gate. They crossed the road to find the other Rangers already at Billy's.

"This is going to be a morphenomenal party," Kim grinned as she flourished around in her pink princess dress.

"Yo, Billy, you look just like that Sherlock Holmes dude," Zack said, recognizing the blue Ranger's outfit.

"Thank you, King Tut," Billy said, acknowledging Zack's costume.

Ciaran grinned and rushed ahead of Nuala. "Ahoy, my Hearties," he said, brandishing his sword at Jason. The red Ranger had decided to dress as Robin Hood, and pretended to shoot the pirate captain down with an invisible arrow.

"My, my, Tink, how you've grown," Trini teased as Nuala joined them.

"Haha," Nuala said, smiling.

"Where's Peter, Tink?" Jason asked.

"I swapped him for Captain Hook and Tigger," Nuala said, nodding at the cub in her arms.

"Oh, he's so cute!" Kim cooed.

"Tinkerbell working with Hook?" Trini gasped, mockingly.

"Hey, that's _Captain_ Hook, Pocahontas" Ciaran said, pointing his sword at Trini, who had decided to come as the tribal princess.

The team laughed and Nuala pushed Ciaran's sword down. Despite it being rubber, she didn't want to risk him catching someone with it.

"Where's Tommy?" Kim asked, noticing that the green Ranger was the only one not present.

"His costume's not finished yet," Jason answered. "He said he'd catch up with us later."

"Hey, let's _weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!"_ Ciaran said, raising his sword above his head.

Kim looked confused.

"Pull up the anchor and set sail," Nuala translated. "Ciaran, keep that thing down or I'll take it off you."

"Sorry," Ciaran apologized, lowering his sword.

"The Captain is right," Zack said. "Let's go to the party."

The others nodded and followed King Tut and Captain Hook down the street towards the middle of town.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Once at the Youth Centre, Ciaran quickly found his friends and disappeared, leaving Nuala with Billy and Ellis.

"Nice costume," Nuala said.

"Thanks," Billy said, blushing lightly. "You too."

"Thanks. Mum spent all day working on it," Nuala said, looking down at herself. "I feel a little self-conscious though."

"Why?" Billy asked. "You look great."

It was Nuala's turn to blush. But despite being told she looked fine, she still felt self-conscious. "Is that Alpha?" she asked, spotting the robot over Billy's shoulder.

Billy - or rather Sherlock Holmes - turned and quickly dashed towards the robot. "Alpha, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to party with you guys," Alpha said, looking around in amazement. "I figured this would be the perfect opportunity."

"Well, you do have a splendid costume," Billy said.

"What costume?" Alpha asked, looking down at himself.

Nuala giggled as Alpha walked away and she rejoined Billy. "I think it's great that Alpha wants to party with us," she said. "He has every right too."

"Fair point," Billy said, holding his arm out for her. Nuala smiled and looped her free arm through his, and followed him over to the snack table where Jason and Zack were standing.

"Come here, Tigger," Jason said, taking Ellis from Nuala. He held up a pumpkin shaped cookie and offered it to Ellis. The baby turned his head away, and Nuala couldn't help but smile.

"Nice try, Jase, but I was serious when I told Skull he doesn't eat much chocolate," Nuala said.

"I guess there's nothing wrong with being healthy," Jason shrugged, biting into the cookie. "Even if you do start young."

"Man, this is so not fair," Zack pouted. "I mean, Alpha comes to the party and the girls are all over him."

"Hey, who's that?" Jason asked, bouncing Ellis and spotting another costume dweller - this time a Frankenstein - in the corner.

"Ooh, I don't know," Zack shrugged. "But he's going to ace the grand prize for sure."

"Is that all you guys can think about?" Nuala asked. "Winning first prize? Halloween is about having fun."

"Winning is fun," Zack whined, biting into a pumpkin cookie. Nuala grinned as she saw his hand skim over the spider-shaped cookies.

"I'll have to search for more clues but could that Frankenstein be Tommy?" Billy asked, putting on his glasses.

Nuala looked at the Frankenstein and shrugged. "It could be," she said. "He's isn't here yet. Hey, wait, where are you going?"

"Get more clues," Billy said as he walked away. Nuala rolled her eyes, a playful smile on her lips as she watched Sherlock follow Frankenstein around the room.

"Come on, Tiger Toes, let's go dance," Nuala said, taking her son from Jason and walking out on to the dance floor. She passed by Trini and Kim who were dancing with two boys that Nuala didn't recognise, and twirled around with Ellis, causing him to giggle happily.

Soon the crowd parted as Marissa, a blonde girl that sat behind Nuala in Maths pulled the Frankenstein out onto the dance floor. Carefully making her way back through the crowds of dancers, Nuala found Billy and together they made their way back to Jason and Zack.

Marissa laughed as she ducked twice to avoid Frankenstein's arms, and then spun into him, stamping down on his foot and causing him to growl at her. She laughed, unaware of the danger she was actually in, before screaming as Frankenstein picked her up off of the ground and threw her at Bulk and Skull.

"Get him!" Bulk said. Skull pulled out a fake gun and fired a sticky plunger at the Frankenstein, hitting him in the forehead. Frankenstein growled in annoyance and hauled Skull into the hair by the lapels on his jacket.

"It was just a joke, man," Skull said, as he was thrown into Bulk. "Some people just can't take a joke."

Frankenstein growled and them, and chased them from the Youth Centre.

Billy looked around for his friends, only to find them preoccupied with other things.

"Just let them go," Nuala said, grabbing his arm.

"I can't," Billy said.

"Billy, it was just a stupid joke," Nuala said. "Bulk and Skull will be fine. Tommy will get bored of chasing them and come back."

"That's just it," Billy said, heading for the door.

"What's just it?"

"I don't think it is Tommy. I'll be right back."

Nuala sighed as Billy run outside. She hesitated and looked down at Ellis. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" she asked, walking back to Jason and Zack. "Hey, guys, can you keep an eye on Ellis for a sec, there's something I need to check out."

"Sure," Jason said, taking the baby again.

"Please don't give him much sugar, and don't lose him," Nuala warned.

"How am I going to lose him?" Jason asked.

"Don't put him down," Nuala said. "He can't walk yet, but he's still pretty fast for a crawler."

"Duly noted," Zack said.

Nuala smiled, kissed her son's cheek, and then hurried off after Billy. Hopefully he wouldn't have gotten too far away.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Running through the streets, Nuala considered calling Zordon to help her track down where Billy had gone, thankfully enough she spotted Bulk and Skull at the end of the street leading away from the Youth Centre. They were both looking ruffled, but fine nonetheless.

"Hey guys," she called, hurrying over to them. "You haven't seen Billy, by chance?"

"He's chasing that Frankenstein," Skull said.

"Which way did they go?"

"Out of town," Bulk said. "Wait, where are you going?"

Nuala turned around to face them as he headed off down the street. "Where do you think?" she asked.

"That Frankenstein isn't safe!" Skull called. "Nuala!"

"Let her go," Bulk said. "You know what they say. Dweebs stick together."

"Yeah, dweebs stick together," Skull repeated. Bulk growled and glowered at him.

Meanwhile, Nuala turned the corner at the end of the street and crashed point blank into Billy. He'd been hiding from the Frankenstein that was slowly making its way out into the desert surrounding Angel Grove.

"Oof!"

"Sorry."

"Nuala," Billy groaned, untangling himself from the silver ranger. "What are you doing here?"

"Following you," Nuala said. "Why are you following him? I told you he'd get bored of Bulk and Skull."

"I know that you did," Billy said. "But he's not coming back to the party."

"So?"

"So, my reasoning deduction tells me that it's not Tommy."

Nuala shrugged and looked up to see the Frankenstein disappear from sight. "We're going to follow him, aren't we?" she asked.

"You don't have too," Billy said.

"I'm not letting you go off into the mountains alone with that thing," Nuala said. "If it's not Tommy, then..."

"Then what?" Billy asked.

"What if it's Rita?" Nuala asked. "What if this is a trap to lure us away from the others?"

"Then there's only one way to find out," Billy said. He grasped her hand and pulled her down the street after the Frankenstein. It had already had a head start on them but, despite their costumes weighing them down, the two rangers caught up quickly.

Nuala winced as she run behind Billy. She wasn't exactly wearing decent footwear for the mountainside, and the small stones were sticking through the bottom of her slippers and cutting her underfoot.

"Billy, let's just go back," Nuala pleaded, as they ducked behind a bush to avoid detection.

"Something's telling me we should keep going," Billy said, looking ahead. He was determined to find out the truth about Frankenstein.

Nuala whined as she followed him out of the bush. Her wings snagging on a thorny branch, and tearing at the seams. "It's a good thing I didn't care about first prize," she said, disdainfully.

"You still look great," Billy said, taking her hand again. Nuala blushed and followed closely behind him towards the cavern where Frankenstein had disappeared. The entrance was dark and eerie looking. Billy squeezed Nuala's hand as he felt her tense beside him.

The two rangers slowed to a halt as they reached the middle of the cavern. There were two ways to go, and neither Nuala nor Billy wished to split up.

"I have a real bad feeling about this," Nuala whispered. "Now can we head back?"

"Aren't you a least bit curious?"

Nuala shook her head. "No, not in the slightest," she replied.

"Just two more minutes," Billy said. "I really think we should find out whom that Frankenstein was and what he is up too."

"But..."

"Look out!" Billy shouted, grabbing Nuala around the waist as the Frankenstein blundered around the corner towards them. His arms were outstretched and thrashing wildly.

Nuala clutched the back of Billy's jacket, as she shied away behind him. His arms were still around her, as if protecting her. "I told you we should've gone back," she said, peeking over Billy's shoulder at the Frankenstein monster. "Ready?"

"Mhm," Billy nodded, dropping his arms from around her, and allowing Nuala to slip away from him.

"It's morphin' time!" Nuala said, reaching behind her for her power morpher.

"Triceratops!"

"Dire Wolf!"

Frankenstein removed the bolts from either side of his neck, and swung them around like nunchucks.

"Billy!" Nuala yelled as he jumped in front of her, and attacked the Frankenstein with his Power Lance only to be flipped over as Frankenstein caught him in the stomach and chest with the bolts.

"Nuala, look out!" Billy called, struggling to stand up. Angered by the shouting, Frankenstein turned onto Nuala and backed her into a corner.

Having never been one for the movie _Frankenstein_, Nuala ducked as the monster swung his bolts at her. They clipped the side of the cavern wall. A chunk crumbled off as the bolts fell back into Frankenstein's hands.

"Power Spear!" Nuala summoned, twirling the spear around in her hands. She stabbed it at Frankenstein, but he caught it and tugged the weapon out of her grasp. "Uh-oh," she murmured, before groaning as Frankenstein hit her across the face. Thankfully her helmet was in place to protect her from any long lasting damage.

Scrambling to his feet, Billy rushed to Nuala's side and helped her stand. The ground shook underfoot and they both stumbled as they tried to remain upright.

"What's happening?" Billy asked, catching Nuala as she stumbled into him.

"This is what I meant when I said this could be a trap," Nuala said. "It's gotta be Rita. We need to tell the others."

"Right," Billy nodded. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Ciaran stopped his messing around as the ground beneath his feet started to shake. The snacks table overturned as punch and cookies pooled onto the floor. From the other side of the room he could hear Ellis crying, and quickly abandoned his friends to find his nephew.

"Jason, where's Nuala?" Ciaran asked, joining the rangers.

"She left about twenty minutes ago," Jason said. "Said that she had something to do."

"Like what?" Ciaran asked.

"I don't know," Jason replied.

"Guys!"

Ciaran and Jason looked around and saw Billy and Nuala running back towards them. They looked ruffled and worried.

"Where've you been?" Ciaran asked his sister, as she reached Jason and took back her son.

"We've got a major crisis situation," Billy said.

"No kidding we just had an earthquake," said Kim.

"No. It's Rita," Billy answered, "and the Frankenstein is one of her goons."

"What?" Kim asked.

"Maybe Zordon can explain," Jason said.

"Right. Let's go," Trini said.

"Wait, what about Tommy?" Kim asked. "He hasn't shown up yet."

"We can't wait," Jason said. "We'll have to go without him."

Looking around to make sure the coast is clear; the Rangers saw that in the midst of the earthquake everyone had cleared out of the Youth Centre, including Alpha. Nuala grabbed Ciaran and pulled him to her, before teleporting along with the others to the command centre.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Zordon, what's going on?" Jason asked as soon as they appeared in front of the giant tube.

"Power Rangers, Rita plans to use her Frankenstein monster to destroy you, and then conquer the Earth with an army of super putties she has created," Zordon explained.

"Super putties?" Trini repeated.

"A new form of Putty patroller that's indestructible," Zordon said.

"Indestructible?" Zack asked.

"You guys, let's try and contact Tommy," Kim said, looking to Jason.

The red Ranger nodded and raised his communicator to his lips. "Tommy, come in," he called.

"He's not online," Alpha said, using the super computer to locate the green Ranger. "I'll try and locate his signal."

"Rangers, there isn't a moment to spare," Zordon said. "Rita's monster is on the loose, and it is up to you to stop him."

Jason nodded and looked around at his friends. "It's morphin' time," he said, reaching behind him for his power morpher.

"Ci," Nuala said, carefully setting Ellis into her brother's arms.

"I know," Ciaran nodded. "Stay here and listen to Zordon and Alpha."

Nuala smiled and ruffled his hair. "Be back as soon as I can," she said.

"Be careful!"

Nuala nodded, and reached behind her for her power morpher.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Rita laughed as she surveyed the scene from her pedestal. "You don't stand a chance, Rangers," she shrieked, holding up her staff. "Because now he's going to grow!" She threw her staff at the monster and, in retaliation; the Frankenstein grew to Megazord heights.

"We need Megazord Power, now!" Jason commanded, summoning the six Dino Zords to the scene. "Power Up!"

Frankenstein growled and threw his nunchucks at the Megazord, but using the dire shield as a form of protection the Rangers were able to deflect the hit. Unfortunately they were able to deflect every hit.

"Oof!" the Rangers grunted as the nunchucks took a deliberate hit to the Megazords gut.

"It's time for some more firepower," Jason decided after another hit.

The clouds overhead parted as the Dire Wolf disengaged from the Megazord, and the dire spear was replaced with the power sword.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Frankenstein laughed as the Megazord attacked him with their sword, but it left no mark.

"This dude's going to be tougher than I thought," Jason said, stumbling back as the Frankenstein hit the Megazord again with its nunchucks.

Frankenstein growled and tossed a ball and chain at the Megazord, wrapping it around the head. Struggling to break free the Rangers cried out as they were hauled into the air, and landed with an earth shattering crash back on the pavement.

"Hey, Frankie," Nuala shouted, charging forward and head-butting the monster with her Zord.

Frankenstein roared in annoyance and slammed his fist down onto of the Dire Wolf's head. It whined and retreated as sparks flew both inside and out.

"Hey, you'll pay for that," Nuala yelled, firing up her controls. "Ice Bite!" she charged forward again and locked the jaws of her Zord around the Frankenstein's arm. He howled in pain and shook his arm frantically, trying to dislodge her.

"Nuala, release!" Jason shouted.

Nuala did as commanded and her Zord rolled across the ground into a building.

"Hey, Nuala, you alright?" Zack asked as the Megazord took a protective stand in front of the downed Dire Wolf.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy," Nuala replied.

"How are we going to stop him?" Zack asked Jason.

"Everyone switch to emergency power before he gets us again," Jason ordered. But it was no use, using its ball and chain the Frankenstein monster was still more powerful than the Megazord, and continued to wipe the floor with it.

Nuala watched on helplessly as her Dire Wolf tried to sustain enough power to help, but the last attack from the monster had left it severely critical. When all seemed lost the sound of a trumpet fanfare brought light to the situation. Looking around, Nuala sighed in relief as the Dragonzord trudged towards them.

With Tommy controlling the Dragonzord from the rooftop of a near-by building, and the Frankenstein barely holding his own against the two Megazords, Nuala could tell that the end of the battle was neigh.

"Jason, use the Megadragonzord," Nuala called from the Dire Wolf.

"Right," Jason agreed. "Ready guys?"

"Yeah!" Billy, Trini, Zack and Tommy replied.

With the Sabre-Toothed Tiger, Mastodon, Triceratops and the Dragonzord combined, the Rangers fired up the Power Staff and used it to drill a hole through the Frankenstein monster causing him to keel over and explode.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Well, Rita finally got what was coming to her," Jason joked as he led the others back into the Youth centre. They had dropped by the Command centre to pick up Ellis and Ciaran and then returned to enjoy the rest of the party in peace.

"And we sure sent that Frankenstein monster back to the lab," Zack agreed.

"Frankenstein was lucky," Nuala said, swatting her brother's hand aside as he prodded his finger through the small tear in her wing. "Because of him I ripped my outfit. It's a good thing Halloween only comes once a year."

"Next year you can come as something else," Ciaran said. "I mean, you wouldn't be Tinkerbell again, would you?"

"Despite how much I love Tinkerbell," Nuala said. "No. I wouldn't come as her again."

"Hey, looks like we got back in time to see who won the costume contest," Kim said, spotting Ernie and the first place blue ribbon.

"Hey, Tommy, where's your costume?" Trini asked, as the green Ranger appeared behind her.

"I've got it right here," Tommy said, patting his back. "I gotta change. Hold on." He grabbed the bag and run off to the changing rooms, as Ciaran spotted Alpha in the corner of the room.

"By the way, whatever happened to Alpha?" Billy asked.

"Looks like he's got his hands full, so to speak," Zack said, pointing the little robot out. He was standing in the corner of the room surrounded by a horde of girls.

Nuala giggled and leaned closer to Billy. "Zack's looking a little more green than black, don't you think?" she asked, teasingly.

"I'm not jealous," Zack said, nudging Nuala playfully.

"Could've fooled me," Nuala said, laughing.

Kim smiled fondly as she and the others made their way over to where Alpha was standing. "Cool, Alpha," she said, "you are a hit."

"They like me," Alpha replied.

"Yeah, what's to like, tin can?" Bulk asked, storming over with Skull in tow. "Who are you, anyway?"

Suddenly Billy frowned and looked at Nuala as she tensed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Frankenstein," Nuala said her eyes wide and staring at something over his shoulder.

"He's gone, Nuala," Jason said. "History."

"Then why is he behind you?" Nuala asked.

Jason spun around and nudged Zack as he saw that Nuala wasn't kidding when she said there was a Frankenstein behind them, and he looked identical to the one they had just destroyed.

Reaching for its head, the Frankenstein removed the top half of its mask to reveal Tommy to be underneath. The Rangers relaxed, and Nuala groaned. "Tommy," she whined.

"Sorry, Nuala," Tommy apologized. "But that Frankenstein gave me some ideas for my costume. What do you think?"

"Quite believable, Tommy," Billy said, squeezing Nuala as she pouted at the green Ranger.

""Why couldn't you have been a green Frankenstein?" Nuala asked pointing out that while gray was not her colour of choice; it was closer to silver than green.

Tommy smiled and shook his head. "I'll keep that in mind for next time," he said,

"OK, everybody," Ernie called as he walked into the middle of the room carrying the first place blue ribbon. "Time to announce the winner of the costume contest, and the blue ribbon goes to... whoever you are." Ernie placed the blue ribbon onto Alpha's chest, much to the surprise of the Rangers _and_ Bulk and Skull.

"Who's the mystery winner?" Marissa asked, trying to find the latch on Alpha's face.

"I'd like to find out myself," Bulk said. "Skull, get me a can opener."

"Yep," Skull said, drawing the object from inside of his jacket.

Nuala, Kim and Trini exchanged amused glances as Alpha announced his departure. "This is one mystery that has to remain unsolved," said the little Robot, before he made a hasty exit, his group of fans, Bulk and Skull following along in his wake.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**OK, guys, I am at a stand still with the next episode. I am wondering whether I should or should not include the Island of Illusion arc. What do you think? Do you want to see a rewrite of that episode? Let me know along with your chapter review. Thanks. **_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Thursday, 26th June, 2014 at 02:30pm**


	20. Divided They Fall, Part I

**Author's Note:** OK, guys, I really wanted to include the **Gung Ho** episode, but I couldn't get into writing it. I might include it sometime down the line, but at the moment it isn't appearing in this story. Thanks for understanding.

**Dedications: **N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Ciaran watched, almost mesmerized as his sister skated around the rink. She looked at home in her element as she glided across the ice with nothing to support her except an extremely thin and sharp blade.

"Wow, she looks amazing."

Ciaran looked over his shoulder as the other Rangers finally arrived. "Yeah, she's a little nervous though," he said, turning his attention back to his sister.

"How can you tell?" Jason asked, leaning on the side beside Ciaran.

"Because she's not doing as many jumps as she used to," Ciaran replied. "When Nuala is on the ice, you can tell when she is nervous or scared, she takes fewer risks."

"Shouldn't you take fewer risks in figure skating, anyway?" Trini asked. "It's a dangerous sport."

Ciaran nodded in agreement, but his eyes never left his sister. "Yeah, but if you know what you're doing then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Nuala's been figure skating since she was three-years-old, she gave it up following her attack, but it's been nearly two years now and Mum and I believe she should get back into it."

"But isn't that like forcing her?" Kim asked. "I mean, if she doesn't want to get back into it..."

"That's the thing," said Ciaran. "She does. Nuala told me last night that she'd love to be figure skating again, she just doesn't have the confidence to be as good as she used to be, especially since Chris was her partner and he attacked her while they were practicing."

As his friends conversed about Nuala's skills as a figure skating, and Ciaran explained about how much Nuala missed the sport; Billy leaned against the side and watched Nuala twist and twirl across the ice. She looked so graceful, so beautiful. He couldn't help but admire how elegant and flawless she seemed to be. It was like she had found a place where she belonged.

"Hey, Nuala!"

Nuala stopped skating at the sound of her name, and looked around to find David Johnathan skating towards her. He was the owner of the ice rink, and had been gracious enough to let her use the ice before opening hours. "Hey, David," she said, smiling.

"Hey. I've been watching you for the past hour, and I have to admit your pretty good for a beginner, there's just a few things you need to work on, like your jumps."

"I'm not a beginner," Nuala corrected him. "I used to figure skate all the time, but I gave it up to have my baby. I want to get back into it, but I'm a little nervous. I used to be pretty confident in my jumps, but I guess being away from the ice for so long as had a bit of a downer on my confidence."

David smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "How do you feel about getting a little help?" he asked. "There's a competition going this Saturday, and I need someone to fill in a spot. One of my girl's backed out at the last minute and without her I can't really compete. If I can get you a spotter by the end of the day, do you think you could fill the position?"

"Oh, um, I dunno, David," Nuala said, hesitantly.

"Please?" David asked, flashing her a smile.

Nuala sighed and nodded. "Sure, I guess I could help out," she said. "If I can get a bit of confidence back, just enough to perform my jumps without feeling like I'm falling, then I can execute an old routine of mine."

"Awesome," David said, kissing her cheek. "I'll make a few calls. Do you have a number I can reach you on or do you want to come back here later this afternoon, it's up to you."

"I could drop in on my way home, if you like," Nuala said. "Or you could call the Youth Center. I'm pretty much always there, and I'm sure Ernie wouldn't mind."

"Sweet. So, see you later, Nuala," David said, skating back to the edge of the rink. He waved once and then disappeared.

Nuala bit the inside of her lip and spun in a circle for a moment, a broad smile graced her face as she spread her arms wide and lifted them towards the ceiling. She felt weightless and free. But it all soon came to a crashing halt as the ground started to shake.

Screams echoed from all over the building, and doors crashed open as people ran screaming. Over at the side of the rink the Rangers and Ciaran tried to stay upright whilst out on the ice Nuala slipped and hit the ice with a hard thud.

"Nuala, are you OK?" Ciaran shouted as the shaking halted.

"Yeah," Nuala winced, forcing herself to her feet. She flexed her wrist and carefully made her way back to the side. "What just happened?"

"There must be a destabilization of the tropospheric pressure zone," Billy answered. The others frowned at him, but Kim interrupted before either Trini or Nuala could translate.

"It's gotta be Rita," said Kim. The others had to agree, every time there was an earthquake Rita always made an appearance, or did something. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"We should check in with Zordon," said Jason. He checked around himself for any outsiders, and then lifted his communicator to his lips. "Jason to Zordon, do you read me?"

"_Yes, Jason,_ _I know_," Zordon replied. "_Our systems just picked on unusual power surges coming from Rita's moon base. The energy is more massive than I have ever sensed before. Rita may be harnessing a power I am not familiar with_."

"That doesn't sound good," Zack said. If Zordon was unfamiliar with the energy that Rita was providing, then it had to be ultimately evil.

"_Be on your guard, Power Rangers,"_ Zordon instructed.

"_Ay-yi-yi-yi!_" Alpha's panicked cries came over the communicators.

Lowering his communicator to his side, Jason looked to the other Rangers. Despite the shaking having stopped they each still felt uneasy. "We should get out of here," he suggested. "Just in case there is an attack on the city. For all we know Rita could be using this energy surge to mask an even bigger threat."

"You had to say it," Zack complained as the usual garbling sound of Putties reached his ears. Nuala spun around on the ice as several putties materialized in the centre of the rink, while several more appeared around the hall.

"Nuala, are you sure you can handle those?" Jason asked.

Nuala nodded and looked over her shoulder at her brother. "Ciaran, stick close to Zack," she said, skating away from the edge. The others had an higher advantage against the putties than she did, seeing as they weren't on a platform of ice and had more than just a thin blade underfoot; but she also had an advantage over her friends seeing as her skates were a lot sharper than a fist of kick.

Skating around the putties, Nuala balanced herself carefully onto her left leg, kicked back with her right and twirled in a fast circle, cutting down as many putties within reach. Straightening up, Nuala grabbed the arm of putty that was left standing and pulled him backwards onto the ice. She twirled around again, dragging the putty around and around on the ice; when she let him go he crashed into the sideboard.

"Ooh! You got to work on your landings," Nuala teased. She screamed as a putty jumped onto her back and tried to pull her backwards, but Nuala folded herself up and, resting on the tips of her blades, spun extremely fast on the spot. Unable to hold on, the putty sailed off and crashed into the last of his comrades that were still standing.

With all the Putties destroyed, the Rangers regrouped.

"Tell me again how you cannot have confidence in yourself when you just executed part of a routine with perfection," Ciaran said, reaching his sister's side.

"Because twirls are easy," Nuala replied. "Jumps are a little bit more difficult."

"I don't see why," Ciaran said. "As long as you think you can do it, then you know that you can. You just have to try."

Nuala hung her head and patted her brother's shoulder. "Hopefully by this weekend I'll have the confidence to compete," she said.

"You don't have to compete," Ciaran said. "You can figure skate just for the fun of it."

"I know," Nuala nodded. "But I promised David if he can find me a spotter by the end of the day, then I'll compete for him on Saturday."

Ciaran's eyes widened. "Wow, you seriously don't know how to take it 'one small step at a time', do you?" he asked. "But I will admit that it is a huge leap in your progress."

"Chris isn't here, right?" Nuala asked.

"Nope," Ciaran said, shaking his head.

"He's not going to hurt me again?"

Again, Ciaran shook his head.

Nuala smiled, briefly. "Then I have nothing to fear," she breathed.

"Good," Ciaran smiled, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. He never actually thought he would see the day where his sister improved in her fears and struggles to move on from what had happened to her, obviously there was a constant reminder in Ellis, but Nuala had managed to overlook the fact that she had become a teenager mother through rape, and she loved her son unconditionally. But it seemed she had finally come to terms with her ordeal, and was ready to try and put it behind her. Ciaran would admit he was proud of his sister.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Sometime later, Ciaran, Nuala and the others were walking away from the ice rink, and back towards the Youth Centre. Lana Archer had promised that she would watch Ellis for a few hours, just enough so that Nuala could enjoy a day to herself.

As they walked the conversation kept changing, rapidly. One minute the team was talking about Nuala's possible competition on Saturday, and then switched to the dance competition the following week that Zack had entered in for. In all fairness, Ciaran noted, there was never a dull day in Angel Grove - there was always something or another happening.

Suddenly the skies darkened, and orange lightning crashed overhead. There was a bright spark, almost like an invisible doorway opening in the centre of the city, and a giant orange and black monster carrying a ball and chain appeared. He swung his ball and chain around, smashing it into a nearby building.

Screams echoed from all over the city, and people rang for safety.

"Ciaran, get out of here!" Nuala said, shedding her backpack. "You don't necessarily have to go home, or even to Ernie's, but just stay out of the way, OK?"

Ciaran nodded, grabbed Nuala's backpack and ducked into an alley. He hid behind a dumpster and watched from there what was happening.

"Are we clear?" Jason asked, looking around.

"We're clear," Zack confirmed.

"It's Morphin' time!" Jason said, reaching behind him for his power morpher.

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Once morphed, the Rangers summoned their Dinozords, and combined together to form the Power Megazord.

Throwing out the ball and chain again, the monster hit the Megazord right in the cut causing sparks to fly outwards.

"Hang on, guys!" Nuala shouted, charging forward in the Dire Wolf. She head-butted the monster away from her friends and the Dire Wolf snarled fearsomely.

"Thanks, Nuala," Jason called as the Megazord recovered from the initial attack.

The trumpet fanfare of Tommy's dagger echoed around the streets, and the Dragonzord thundered forward. It engaged the monster in battle, swinging its arms around and spearing them through the monster's body. He wailed in agony, but toppled the Dragonzord by swing at it with the ball and chain.

"Guys, its Rita!" Kim said, pointing to the balcony of a nearby building.

"If she's here then we need to keep our guard up," Jason said.

"Believe this, Power punks," Rita screeched. "Mutitis is nothing compared to the monster I have in store for you next. Beware the terror of Lokar!"

Again, the skies darkened and an holographic face appeared in the skies above the Dire Wolf Zord. With the Dragonzord and Power Megazord engaged in battle, Nuala was pretty much left to fend for herself.

"Guys, what's happening?" Nuala called, checking her monitors. They were going haywire in the sudden turn of events.

"Rita's definitely learned some new tricks," Jason said, as Nuala backed away from the holographic head. The Dire Wolf snarled as it sensed it's mistress's fear and howled in warning at the head.

"Prepare to meet your destiny, Rangers," Rita called from the side of her building. "Just wait till you see what Lokar's breath of doom does to my monsters, it'll blow you away."

"Now what is she up too?" Zack wondered aloud.

"O great Lokar, bend to my will, maybe your breath make Mutitis more horrible still," Rita chanted.

The holographic head of Lokar exhaled a stream of white air. It wrapped around Mutitis and caused him to mutate into an even uglier monster. "Feel the power of Lokar!" the head laughed, fiendishly as the monster attacked the Megazord.

Swinging the tail of the dragonzord around, Tommy knocked Mutitis away from the fallen Power Megazord, as Nuala charged in and clamped the jaws of Megazord down on Mutitis's arm. He howled in pain, and smashed his fist down on top of the Dire Wolf's head.

Nuala immediately released as her systems dropped drastically.

"Oh no!" Nuala cried, fearing for her Zord. She understood that it was a real animal, but she still cared about it.

"Nuala, are you alright?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, but my systems are almost critical," Nuala replied. "I need time to recharge."

"We'll cover you for as long as we can," Jason said. "You with us Tommy?"

"Right here, Jase," Tommy said. Both the Dragonzord and the power Megazord took an offensive stand in front of the Dire Wolf. It was important that all Zord were up to fighting standard, not just for the sake of the battle but also for the sake of the Ranger piloting the Zord in question.

Squaring off against the monster, both the Megazord and the Dragonzord teamed up against the monster. Stuck between the two offending do gooders, the monster growled in annoyance and swung wildly around with his fists. He hit both the Megazords and caused sparks to fly outwards, and buildings to smash as he jumped into the air and kicked the Megazord in the chest, knocking it over; only to double back and smash into the Dragonzord, causing it to lose its footing.

Getting back to their feet, the two Megazords regrouped in front of Nuala. The monster roared and fired three brightly coloured lasers at them from his chest causing a shower of sparks to explode from all three Zords.

"Get them, Mutitis!" Rita shouted.

Upon her command, Mutitis spat out a slimy substances that covered the three Zords, locking their controls in place and preventing them from ejecting.

"Lokar, send them to the island!" Rita screeched.

"What is this stuff?" Tommy called.

"It's toxic foam!" Jason called back as the foam started to eat its way through the outer shields of the Megazord.

"Get it off!" Nuala screeched as her defenses reached zero and she was ejected. "Whoa!" she screamed as she fell through the air and landed with a hard crash on the ground below.

"Look out!"

Nuala looked up and scrambled aside as Tommy landed beside her. "That's a long way down," the green Ranger commented, getting carefully back to his feet.

"Are you OK?" Nuala asked, holding her left arm across her chest.

"Yeah, are you?"

"I think I may have landed on my arm," Nuala replied, "and after falling today on the ice it's a little sore. I'll be fine."

"Wait, where are the others?" Tommy asked, noticing that they were the only two to have appeared on the stretch of deserted road in the middle of nowhere.

Nuala looked around quickly, only to realise that they indeed were alone. "Billy?" she called, desperately. "Jason?"

"Kim?" Tommy called. "Kim, Trini, Zack - Wait, let's try our -"

"What is it?" Nuala asked, turning back to the green ranger. She found him staring at his wrist and frowned, before quickly looking down at her own. It was bare; she instantly reached behind her, but found nothing of value. "My morphers gone too," she said, stunned.

"Great," Tommy groaned. "Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to contact the others or Zordon."

"We've got no morphin' abilities either," Nuala said, brushing her hair from her face. She sighed and looked around. "I hate to say it," she said, as she took in the tropical wasteland. "But I think we're screwed."

Tommy hated to agree with her, but when she was right, she was right.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Jason grunted as he pushed himself carefully to his feet. He was sitting on the side of a bent over palm tree, behind him were Trini and Kim, and either side of them was Zack and Billy. Each of the them looked fairly fine, no one was supporting any cuts or bruises from the fall.

"Where are we?" Trini asked, looking around.

"I dunno," Jason replied. "One of Rita's spells must have transported us here. Is everybody OK?"

"It would appear that we survived the transdimensional journey intact," Billy confirmed, as the others nodded.

"Not quite intact," Zack said, grabbing his wrist and looking around at the others.

Instinctively they all looked down at their own wrists, and Jason reached behind him to check he still had his morpher. "Our Power Morphers are gone too," he confirmed.

"Guys, we have another problem," said Kim, looking around desperately.

"What's that?" Zack asked.

"Nuala and Tommy aren't here."

Looking around, Jason and the others realised Kim was telling the truth. "They have to be here somewhere," said Jason.

"I definitely saw Nuala get ejected from her Zord," Zack said.

"Maybe they landed someplace else," Trini suggested.

"Then we better find them," Jason said, he looked from each of his friends to the other. "Stick together," he warned them. "We can't afford for anyone else to go missing. Hopefully, wherever they are, Tommy and Nuala are together."

The others nodded and started walking.

They had to find a way to get back to their own dimension, but first they had to find their missing friends and hopefully, along the way, their communicators and power coins, without either of them they were screwed.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**I would have had this up earlier, but I've only now woken from what was supposed to be a cat nap.**_

_**Oh, before I go, to the anonymous reviewer who keeps reviewing this story and asking for an update on Operation Overdrive: Secrets and Lies, I will update Aliyah when I can, the next few chapters are taking a bit longer to plan because they are they Once a Ranger arcs, and I don't want to just rush them as they're important chapters in Aliyah's story. So please, be a little patient and I'll try and update her before the end of next week.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 2:49am**


	21. United They Stand, Part II

**Author's Note:** Guy's, I am really sorry for not updating this on Monday. It took a lot longer to plan/write than I expected it too. I hope was worth it in the end.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **I'm-not-your-savior** and** Phantom- of- light** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"This place is starting to freak me out," Tommy said as he and Nuala continued their trek across the tropical rainforest.

Nuala jumped as a bush ruffled and a large dragon-like lizard crawled out. It flicked its tongue like a snake and crawled towards her and Tommy. "What is that thing?" she asked, clutching the green Ranger's arm.

"I dunno," Tommy said. "But we better get out of here before it thinks we're lunch or something."

"But how do we get passed?"

"Jump."

"Are you kidding, I'm not going to jump!"

Tommy squeezed her hand, and then untangled himself from her hold. He took a deep breath and jumped over, landing safely on the other side of the creature. "Come on," he said, waving Nuala over.

Nuala whimpered and jumped over the creature. She screamed as it raised its head to look at her, flicking its tongue to taste the air. It was obvious that the creature could taste her fear and was probably preparing for an attack.

"Gotcha!" Tommy said, catching Nuala around the waist and stopping her from stumbling backwards on top of the creature. If she had landed on it then it was sure enough to attack her. The lizard hissed and Nuala jumped away again.

"Oh! Let's get out of here!" Nuala said, tugging him away.

Tommy chuckled and followed her down the trail. The lizard watched them, and then slowly slunk away into the bushes again.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"I guess we're on our own," Trini said, clutching herself closer to Jason. The others crowded around too. Although Jason was nervous about where they were himself, he was still their leader and felt honour bound to protect them.

"Let's have a look around," said Jason.

"Yeah," Kim agreed, "and figure out where we are."

They walked along the trail in silence. Kim and Trini almost glued to Jason, while Zack and Billy kept close to the two girls'. Kim gasped as she brushed against a bush, the leaves tickling her arm and causing her to jump almost a foot into the air.

"This is weird," Kim said, looking around at the large spider's webs that covered most of the trees. "It feels like these bushes have eyes."

"Hey, isn't that -?" Zack started, pointing at something disappearing into the trees.

"What?" Kim asked, looking around. She couldn't see anything.

Zack frowned and lowered his hand. "I could've sworn I just saw this... this..." he gestured with his hand, but then shook his head. It must've been his imagination playing tricks on him. "Forget it."

A high-pitched squeal lingered in the air, causing the five Rangers to cringe and cover their ears. "Oh, what is that noise?" Kim asked.

"Whatever it is, it is seriously out of tune," Trini answered, turning in a complete circle. She looked in every direction, hoping to find whatever was making the noise. But she couldn't see anything save for trees and foliage.

Zack, meanwhile, pulled away from the group and peered through the trees nearby. "I knew I saw something," he said, pointing at a little person sitting at the base of a tree near the lake. "Hey, you guys look," he said, waving his friends over.

"Hello?" Kim called. The little person jumped in surprise and brandished his flute at them. "Um, do... do you think you could help us? You see, Rita..."

The little person pulled down his hood and took a hesitant step backwards. "Rita!" he gasped. "Stay away and don't come near. That wicked witch has sent you here. No friend of hers is a friend to me, you can't fool Quagmire, no, siree." He turned on the spot and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Kim sighed and edged through the trees. She stopped at the side of the lake and looked back to her friends. "Was it something I said?" she asked, confused.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Billy asked, listening hard. He could hear a faint call of a human voice. At first he had thought it was getting nearer, but now he could hear it was getting further and further away. "What if it's Nuala and Tommy?"

"Let's follow it," Jason said, leading the others towards the voice. It was almost unbearable and he hoped that somehow the last two members of the team would stop or turn back. As they walked away from where they had seen Quagmire, Jason noticed a holographic image of Goldar in the sky. He pointed it out to the others and they all stopped short.

Goldar laughed at them. "Did you lose your precious power coins?" he taunted. "You'll soon lose more than that."

"Look!" Kim exclaimed pointing down the path ahead.

"Oh, great," Zack complained. "No coins, a tone-deaf little person, and now we've got an island full of monsters."

"That we thought we'd destroyed," Trini said, looking from each individual monster to the next.

The monsters growled and charged forwards.

"Look out!" Jason called to his friends. Each fell into a defensive position, ready to fight back when the time came, but as the monsters grew closer they instantly disappeared.

Billy frowned and looked around at the others. "That's weird," he said. "They... disappeared."

"Man, what kind of place is this?" Zack asked, growing more and more nervous by the second.

"A place where nothing is real except the danger," Goldar answered. "Welcome to the Island of Illusion."

"Oh, man, this... this..." said Zack, shaking his head and backing away. "I don't think I can handle this." He stumbled back away from his friends, and then took off through the trees. He stopped short of the tree line and let out a blood-curdling scream as a giant green snake curled its way around a low-hanging branch.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

They walked a little further in silence, occasionally one or the other would break the tranquility by calling out one of their friend's names. Tommy noted that Nuala always seemed to call for Billy.

"You like him, huh?"

"Like who?" Nuala asked, blinking in confusion.

"Billy."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because that's the fourth time you've called his name since we landed here," Tommy replied. "You called Jason once or twice, but the most frequent one is Billy."

Nuala shrugged and looked back to the trees. She was hoping she'd catch a glimpse of her friends, given they were in the same dimension as she and Tommy. "He's my best friend," she answered Tommy. "Why wouldn't I call him frequently?"

"So you _don't_ like him?" Tommy asked.

"Like I said, he's my best friend," Nuala said. "Of course I like him."

Tommy shook his head. "No, I mean,_ 'like him' _like him."

Nuala bit the inside of her cheek and wrapped her arms around herself. She wasn't sure how she felt about Billy, granted she blushed every time he paid her a compliment, or she was eager to see him every day, and if anything happened to him she always showed traits of nervousness and then happiness when things worked out.

"It's OK if you don't want to tell me," Tommy said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "But, I think he likes you too."

"He does?" Nuala asked. "How do you know?"

"The way he stares at you for one," Tommy said, chuckling. "Especially when he thinks no one is looking. Like this morning, when you were on the ice and the rest of us were talking to Ciaran about you, Billy pulled away and watched you."

"Maybe he just likes watching me skate?" Nuala suggested.

"It's not the fact that he was watching you," Tommy said, "but the _way_ he was watching you. He wasn't being discreet about it."

Nuala looked down and shrugged. "What does it matter, anyway?" she asked. "Why would he want me?"

"You're a beautiful girl, Nuala," Tommy said. "Why wouldn't he want you? If you were my type, I'd probably want you too."

Nuala blushed and then shook her head. "I'm broken, Tommy," she said. "Why would Billy want something that has been used and broken?"

"Is that how you really see yourself? As broken and used?"

"I'm only seventeen, and already I have a kid."

"Ellis is in this world because of circumstances that were out of your control," Tommy said. "What happened to you in the past as influenced your future, yes, but it influenced it for better."

"How did it influence it for the better?"

"Because if you hadn't have had Ellis, you wouldn't have moved to Angel Grove. You never would've become a Power Ranger... you never would've met Billy," Tommy said, wrapping his arm around her, "or the rest of us. Having Ellis showed you who your true friends were."

"Yeah, I guess," Nuala sighed.

"The only thing that sucks is the way you had him," Tommy added, seeing as his words were having no effect on the silver Ranger. "Look, I'm not condoning what happened to you. In truth, I think what happened to you reeks, it should never have happened, and while I don't know the full story, I know that it has hurt you beyond belief. But if it hadn't have happened then you wouldn't have the life you have now."

Nuala nodded. She knew that Tommy was right, but she still couldn't feel confident in herself. She still felt used and broken, and what half-decent guy would want someone that has a child with another guy?

"Hey, what's that?" Tommy asked, stopping short as he heard someone screaming.

"It sounds like Zack," Nuala said, looking around her person. She turned in a complete 360 circle and then ran forward, taking off through the trees.

"Nuala, wait!" Tommy yelled, chasing after her.

Nuala ran as fast as she could. She was a pretty strong when it came to running, and could run for miles. She had grown up on a farm, so running was usually a needed exercise to keep up with most of the animals, plus she needed strong legs to hold her when it came to figure skating. Nuala had been into in figure skating from the first moment she had touched the ice on the lake behind her farm house, she'd only been about three years old and her father had taken up there on the horses; she could vaguely remember him chasing her out on the ice and her slipping onto her butt. She'd never cried over it, only got back up and slipped away.

Her father, Richard, and stopped dead in the centre watching her skate away, after that he had enrolled her in roller-skating lessons. He had always told her 'Nuala, if you can roller skate then you can figure skate' and he had been right. The only difference between the two was what was beneath the shoe. The following December, for her fourth birthday, Nuala had received a pair of white figure skates; they had cost her parents a lot of money, but it had been worth every penny just to see her smile.

"Nuala, where are you going?"

"Look," Nuala said, slowing to a halt and pointing through a gap in the trees. A little person in native green and grey clothing sat at the base of a tree, playing a flute. "Hello?"

The little person jumped up, and turned wildly to face her. He looked surprised to see another human. "Who goes there?" he asked.

"My name's Nuala," the silver Ranger answered, "and this is Tommy. We were sent here by Rita."

"Rita! That wicked witch is here?"

"I hope not," Nuala sighed, looking to Tommy. If Rita was on the island then that meant trouble for both of them and the other Rangers.

"Can you help us?" Tommy asked. "We're looking for our friends."

Quagmire looked thoughtful and then jumped to his feet. "You must travel back upon once you came," he said, pointing south of their current position, "because it is at the beginning where you start a game."

He disappeared again in a puff of white smoke.

"A game?" Nuala repeated. "What game?"

Tommy shrugged and shook his head. "I dunno," he said. "But come on. We asked for help and he gave it to us."

"How do we know we can trust him?"

"He seemed fearful when you mentioned Rita," Tommy said. "I reckon and enemy of her's is a friend of ours."

Nuala sighed and nodded. "OK," she said. "Let's head back to the beginning, wherever that is."

"I think it means where we landed when we were transported here," Tommy said, leading the way back through the trees. "Maybe there is a clue that we missed, or maybe the others are back there, who knows, let's just go."

Jogging to keep up, Nuala fell into step beside Tommy and the two walked in silence again. Unaware that they were walking _away_ from their friends.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The snake, a reptile that only Zack could see, hissed and flicked its tongue at the terrified black Ranger.

"Oh, man, get it away from me!" Zack said, brushing past his friends and running as far as the lake. He stopped short of the shoreline and turned back to see his friends had followed him. "How could you not see that snake?" he asked them.

"I think Rita's trying to make us doubt ourselves," Billy said, "and is doing so by using our own fears against us."

"Then we're screwed," said Zack. "We can't fight something like that." He pointed behind the others, and then run his hand over his chest and stomach. "Oh, I don't feel so good."

"Zack, you're fading!" Kim gasped.

"What's happening?" Trini asked, taking a step towards Zack. She stopped as Jason held out an arm and stopped her. The team was already down two Rangers, if what was happening to Zack passed to Trini, then they would be in real hot water.

Within a puff of white smoke, the little person Quagmire reappeared. "If Rita makes you doubt and fear soon you're going to disappear," he said, before disappearing again.

"He means your loss of confidence is causing your body to dematerialize," Billy explained.

"Come on, Zack, fight it!" Jason encouraged his best friend. "I'm trying," Zack replied.

Goldar laughed from the sky. "It's no use, Power Rangers," he said. "You can't fight your own worst fears. It won't be long now before you all fade away... forever."

"Don't let Rita get you, Zack," Jason said. He was determined to reach his best friend through the sea of doubt. If he could get Zack to believe in himself then his confidence levels would increase and his body would start to reappear.

"I can't help it," Zack said, shaking his head. "What's happening to me?" he added, as his body flickered between visible and invisible.

"Your molecular integrity is fluctuating in an inverse ratio to your level of self-esteem," Billy explained.

"Where's Nuala when you need her?" Kim asked.

"The more Zack doubts himself the less there is of Zack," Trini translated.

"He's getting fainter," Kim panicked.

"It's no use," Zack said, shaking his head sadly. "I can't beat Rita's magic."

"If only we could contact Zordon," Trini said, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Hey, wait, what about that weird little dude we saw?" Jason asked. "He lives here, right? He might know what Rita's plan is. What was his name? Quincy..."

"Quasimodo?" Kim suggested.

"Quagmire," Trini said, snapping her fingers. There was puff of smoke high up in the trees and Quagmire appeared again.

"Speak my name and I appear," he said. "Now why did you call Quagmire here?"

Rushing over the tree, Kim looked up at the little person. She knew that she had to choose her next words carefully, if she scared him off again then Zack was lost for good. "It's my friend Zack," she said, pointing behind her. "Rita's making him disappear."

"You're no friend of Rita's?" Quagmire asked, jumping down from the tree and landing in front of Kim. "Then Quagmire's glad to greet ya." He shook Kim's hand and run back to the others with her, he nodded at each in turn and turned to face Zack. "To keep from getting caught, think a positive thought."

The Rangers exchanged looks, but Billy seemed to understand exactly what Quagmire was saying.

"If the lack of confidence is the operative factor," said the blue Ranger. "It just might work, Zack."

"Just try it," Jason said.

Zack sighed and looked down. It was to think of a positive thought with all the negative feelings running around inside him. He closed his eyes and thought about the day of his birthday. He'd been caught up in a battle with the Dark Knight, and for one fleeting moment had thought he was going to lose. But he had persevered and managed to hold the knight off until his friends got there. In the end he had been triumphant against Rita, and he had received a surprise birthday party to boot.

Kim, Trini, Jason and Billy gasped as Zack reappeared before their eyes.

"It worked!" Zack grinned as he opened his eyes and looked down. "I'm here. Hey man, thanks for the pep talk," he said to Quagmire as his friends run forward to hug him.

"My pleasure and welcome back," Quagmire said. "But the key was there inside _you_, Zack."

"Yeah, maybe," Zack agreed. "But we're still stuck here, and our friends are still missing."

"Your friends are actually quite near," said Quagmire. "They are heading south from here." He pointed in the direction Nuala and Tommy had disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

They had left the woodland area and were walking back down the trail leading to their starting point on the beach. As they walked Nuala couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, she glanced over her shoulder to see if there was actually someone there but found no one to be seen.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

"I get this weird feeling that we're being watched," Nuala answered.

"It's probably that weird little dude."

"Quagmire?" Nuala asked. Tommy nodded. "No, this feeling is giving me the shivers. Like... like it's a cold stare, you know?"

"No," Tommy admitted.

Nuala sighed and looked around again. She couldn't see anything, and decided that it must've been the island just playing tricks on her imagination. "I'd love to know where we are," she said.

"The island of Illusion," said a familiar voice.

Nuala stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her heart hammered painfully against her rib cage, and she gripped Tommy's arm even tighter than she had done so before. Tommy frowned at her, looking between her personally, and the area that had caught her attention.

"What is it?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"What are you doing here?" Nuala asked.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked. "Rita sent us, remember?"

Nuala shook her head, her breathing coming in short gasps of panic. "You can't be here," she said, taking a quick step backwards. "No, stay away from me! Tommy, keep him away from me, please, don't let him hurt me!"

Tommy frowned and looked around. Whatever Nuala was seeing was something that was happening for her eyes only.

"You're lying!" Nuala snapped. "You're always lying. He wouldn't do that. Billy's not like that..."

"Billy?" Tommy muttered.

Nuala shook her head, turned tail, and sprinted across the beach. She disappeared into the shadows of the forest area causing Tommy to sigh and chase after her. He had already chased her before, and knew that she was fast. If he was intending to catch her then he needed to get ahead of her.

Jumping over a fallen log, Tommy burst out of the trees and turned around. He waited no less than five seconds before Nuala crashed into him. He wrapped his arms around her to steady her, but she thrashed around like a wild animal, kicking and punching at him.

"Let me go!" Nuala screamed. "Let me go... let me go!"

"Nuala! Nuala, it's me, it's Tommy!" the green Ranger shouted, but his voice was drowned out by her terrified screams. She punched him hard in chest with the balls of her hands, and tried to kick him away from her. But he held fast. He was scared that if he let her go then she'd run off again, or worse.

Soon Nuala stopped crying and fell to her knees. She leaned forward and buried her face into his chest, sobbing into her hands. "He lied to me," she said through her tears. "He said he cared, but he doesn't. No one cares. They're all the same."

"Nuala," said Tommy, gently. "What happened? Who doesn't care?"

"Everyone. They all say that they care about me, that they don't care that I'm a teenage mother, but they do. They do care. They talk about me, behind my back, they think I can't hear the cruel words they say, but I do, I hear everything. They call me school slut. They say that I deserved what happened to me. Even Adam... and Billy."

Tommy, caught off guard by the addition of another name, frowned and stared down at the red head. He cradled her in his arms, slowly rocking her back and forth. Her hands were now clapped around her ears and she had her head bent down, her chin practically level with her chest. He didn't want what she was seeing or hearing, but he could tell by her reactions that they were freaking her out.

"Nuala," he said, softly. "We don't care that you're a teenage mother, we adore you the way you are. You're so compassionate, trustworthy and loyal. You're protective of your baby, and of your family. Whoever says otherwise is seeing the wrong side of the picture."

"Lies."

"While I have a vague idea of what happened to you, I don't know the whole story," Tommy continued, not deterred by her whispers. He still ploughed on. He needed her to hear what he had to say, he needed her to realize that whatever trick was being played on her was just a part of Rita's evil plan. "No one does."

"Adam does," Nuala replied. "Adam knows. He was there. He helped me... but he shouldn't have. He shouldn't have helped me. He says I deserved it. I deserved everything Chris did to me. Kim's right, I'm a bad mother. Ellis would be better off without me."

"That's not true," Tommy interrupted, quickly. "Kim loves you and Ellis. You're like a sister to her; she tells me that she worships your son. She's an only child, and therefore doesn't have brothers or sisters, but she's told me that she loves Ellis like a nephew, and that she'd do anything for him and you."

Nuala shook her head and pulled away from him. "You hate me too," she said. "You told Billy what happened to me. You called me broken and used, and told him that he'd be better off looking for someone else. Someone that is more _pure_. You told him that I... had asked Chris to hurt me."

"I would never do something like that," Tommy assured her. "I know how much you like him, and how much he likes you. Nuala, I want to see you happy. I can't stand seeing you so upset, so scared. You were the first friend I had when I first came to Angel Grove, I've moved around a lot during my childhood, and I never stayed in one place long enough to have any friends, and then I met you. Nuala, please, believe me when I say that whatever you are saying is not true. It's in your head. Rita wants you to feel this way; she wants you to doubt your abilities... I just don't know why."

She didn't answer him. She didn't even look at him. Fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks and fell on to the sand. Tommy reached out and touched her shoulder, but Nuala flinched away like she had been burned. Tommy sighed and grabbed his head. What could he do? What could he say? Without knowing the whole story, he was at a loss on what to do next.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"If we don't find our power coins, we don't stand a chance," Jason said, folding his arms and looking to his friends. They were still a little shaken after the whole ordeal with Zack, and knew that one-by-one they were all next.

"Hey, maybe Quagmire knows where they are," Zack said, turning to the little dude beside him.

"With my technique you might get home," Quagmire answered. "But the coins you see you must find on your own."

He played his flute and disappeared.

"On our own?" Trini repeated. "Where do we even start?"

Billy held his finger up in the air and moved it around, as if checking the breeze. "My calculations would suggest a 98% probability that our coins are in... this direction," he pointed over his shoulder to the trail leading behind them.

"That's the same direction that Quagmire said Nuala and Tommy had gone," Kim said.

"Alright then," Jason said. "Let's get started.

"Yes," Goldar called down from the sky. "Let's get started with an illusion for Kimberly's confusion."

"No way," Kim said, looking out towards the lake. "I don't believe this."

"What is it, Kim?" Trini asked her best friend. "What do you see?"

"Skull and Bulk? Being nice?" Kim asked, uncertainly.

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked. "There's no on there, Kim."

"Are you OK?" Zack asked. He knew exactly how she felt, having gone through the same ordeal as she was. He knew what it like was to be seeing things that weren't really there.

"Um... I don't know," Kim said, shaking her head. "If Rita can make them act like that, then she can make anything happen!"

Trini clapped her hand over her mouth as she looked down to see her best friend was starting to disappear. "Quagmire! Quick! Please help Kimberly!"

"A toad might fight you to the marrow," Quagmire said, as he appeared playing his flute. "But stay your course straight as an arrow."

He disappeared again.

"Oh, man, not the toad creature," Kim said, thinking back to the day that she, Billy and Nuala had been spiked by Baboo's punk potion. "That was way to gross. I don't know if I want to remember that."

"You've got too," Jason called. "Kimberly, try."

"Alright. If I have to," Kim said, closing her eyes. She remembered the day as if it was yesterday. She, Nuala and Billy had been spiked by Baboo at the park, and after the spell had been reversed by Alpha, Zordon and Ciaran, she and Billy had gone to stop the toad monster that was terrorizing Angel Grove. It had already demolished her friends, and had captured Billy too. "He was big and he was ugly, but I was the only one whose weapon could destroy him. So I just did what I had to do."

Kim smiled and looked down at herself as she started to reappear. She sighed and hugged Trini back as the yellow Ranger rushed forward.

"You did it," said Trini. "You beat the illusion."

"Thanks," Kim said. She looked around to see that Goldar's head had disappeared from the sky. "We should get out of here, before something else goes wrong."

Jason nodded and started to walk back towards the trail that Quagmire had said Nuala and Tommy had gone. "Come on, let's go find the others," he said.

"And our power coins," Zack agreed.

Clutching one another tightly, Kim and Trini followed after the three guys.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Tommy continued to watch as Nuala rocked back and forth. He was at a loss of what to do and say. He had said pretty much everything that he could have to snap her out of her depressive state, but he figured she must've heard it all before. There was no way she could've gone through a sexual assault without having to undergo some sort of treatment after it.

"N -" he started, but broke off as he heard the sound of someone garbling. He gasped, jumped to his feet and spun around to see a horde of Putties swarming towards him. He panicked and went straight in to defense mode.

He blocked a punch and the hit back with one of his own. The putties fell, one-by-one like flies as Tommy jumped at them, kicking and punching wildly. Jumping up, Tommy kicked another putty in the stomach, knocking over onto its back. But the fight wasn't over; several more putties appeared through the trees, running towards him.

Tommy glanced around to look for Nuala, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen, instead putty knelt where she had once been. The putty wasn't moving, but Tommy wasn't taking any chances and rushed at it. He jumped up and aimed a kick for the putty's head, but was knocked back as another putty barreled into him.

"Ganging up on me now, huh?" Tommy asked, aiming a kick for putty's head. The creature ducked and grabbed at him, but he pulled back and rounded on the others that had surrounded him. The one on its knees in the sand had moved by now, it was scrambling away from another putty, screaming to be left alone.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Look, it's happening to the both of them!"

"Oh man, what do we do?"

"Billy, can you deal with Nuala?"

"I can try."

"We'll deal with Tommy."

"OK!"

"Come on, Tommy, snap out of it!"

Tommy looked from one putty to the next and shook his head. There were hundreds of them. All surrounding him. He needed to get away, get far away from here as possible. But there was one thing that was bothering him - why weren't they attacking. He needed to get away. He needed to find out where Nuala went she wasn't in the right state of mind to go running off alone. She could get hurt. _He_ could get hurt.

Backing away, Tommy raised his fists as the Putties followed him.

"Hey, hey, Tommy, chill, dude, it's us."

"I'll take you all on," Tommy said. "I won't... I won't let you get me. But there's too many, I can't win."

"Tommy, it's us!"

"Oh no. Look!"

"He's fading."

Tommy looked down at himself, confused as to what was happening to him. He'd never seen anything like this before. Why was he disappearing?

"Help us, Quagmire!"

There was a puff of white smoke and Tommy saw the same little dude that had helped him and Nuala a while back. "Dude, don't let Rita steer you wrong," he said. "Think strong thoughts. You'll be strong." He disappeared again.

"Right," Tommy muttered. "Got it. Got to be strong. I was all on my own," he said, thinking back to the day of the Halloween party. The others had been called into battle, and he had been late to the party. As he was about to enter the Youth Centre had been attacked by Putties; he had fought them as hard as he could, but they still kept coming. But he had found the strength he needed to defeat the clay heads, and he didn't it just in time to help his friends against Frankenstein.

Kim laughed victoriously as Tommy reappeared before her eyes. She called his name and run towards him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him. Tommy chuckled and hugged her back, glad to finally see her.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked, teasingly. "Nuala and I -" he gasped and looked around. "Nuala! Nuala, where are you?"

"Guys, I could use a little help over here!" Billy called from the other end of the beach. Nuala was huddled up at the base of a palm tree, her face buried in her knees and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She was rocking back and forth and muttering over and over again to herself.

"What's wrong with her?" Kim asked.

Jason and the others looked to Tommy, expectantly.

"She's fading," Trini said, pointing at Nuala's demolecularizing body.

"Nuala, come on, snap out of it," Jason said, kneeling down beside the silver Ranger. He touched her shoulder and quickly pulled back as Nuala let out a horrifying and alarming scream.

"Please," Nuala whispered. Her voice sounded broken and scared. Jason hesitated and looked up at the others; he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what was scaring Nuala so badly, and for that reason he didn't know how to help her.

"Quagmaire, how do we help Nuala?" Kim called.

Quagmire appeared in a puff of smoke alongside the silver Ranger. He played his flute for the silver Ranger and then touched her shoulder as he addressed the others. "Nuala faces the worst nightmare of all, but now she must accept that she's not alone," he said, before disappearing again.

"Worst nightmare of all?" Trini asked. "What did he mean?"

Jason sighed and sat beside Nuala. He reached out to take her hand, and this time she let him without flinching or screaming. "I don't know what you've been through, but I know that you feel scared and lonely. But I promise you, you're not alone this time. You have friends, friends that'll be here for you when you need them. Come on, he can't hurt you anymore."

The Rangers waited with bated breath.

Soon Nuala's breathing evened out, and she lifted her head from her knees. Her gaze met Jason's, her eyes were rimmed red from crying and there were fresh tear marks on her cheeks. She smiled weakly and rubbed them away.

"Atta girl," Jason said, pulling her close and hugging her tightly. He helped her back to her feet and then left her go to hug Billy. The blue Ranger looked almost as terrified as Nuala had done, and now Nuala looked almost relieved to have someone to hold on too. As soon as Billy's arms wrapped around Nuala, the fading disappeared and Nuala was whole again.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Leaving Billy and Nuala alone for a moment, Jason returned to Tommy but stopped short as Kim pulled away to check on Trini. The yellow Ranger had wandered over to a sand dune and sat down, the look on her face was fright and she was rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"Hey, Trini, are you OK?" Kim asked, sitting beside her best friend.

"I'm afraid that Rita's going to come after me next," Trini admitted.

"That's just what she wants you to think," Jason said.

"Oh no," Kim said, as she watched her friend start to disappear. "What do we do?" she asked the others.

They looked lost. All of them knew that Trini's biggest fear was that of heights, but they had each thought she had it under control. She had to have it under control, she somehow managed to defeat many monsters during a 30ft Megazord battle, if her fear of heights was really _really_ bad, then there was no way she'd being to stand that.

"No, No! I'm too high!" Trini suddenly screamed. She clasped her hands over her head, squeezed her eyes shut tightly and screamed to be let down. "I want to get down! I need to get down! What if I fall?"

"Trini," Kim shouted, grabbing at her friend's hands. "Trini, you're OK."

"Trini, it's Rita's illusions," Jason said. "Quick, think positive."

"Yeah, remember what Quagmire said," Tommy added in.

But Trini felt too scared to remember anything of what had happened that day.

"Trini had to conquer heights, although that was her greatest fright," Quagmire said, appearing behind Kim and causing her to jump. "Now, my child, do your best to pass this part of Rita's test."

Drawing in by the screaming, Nuala and Billy joined the others. The silver Ranger still held herself close to the blue Ranger, in fear that if she strayed too far she'd slip again into a dangerous state of depression.

"Come on, Trini," Nuala said. "You've got nothing to fear but fear itself."

With her breathing slowing down, Trini closed her eyes and remembered back to the day after they'd become Power Rangers. It was their very first battle in the Megazords, the first time she'd ever had to face her fear of heights head on. She could remember gripping the controls of the Sabre-Toothed Tiger Zord with such force that she was afraid she's break them. But then she'd combined with the Megazord and joined her friends in the cockpit. They had defeated the monster with ease, combing their weapons and strengths together and obliterating him.

While she had been ultimately terrified of being 30ft off the floor, she still felt victorious at her hand in defeating the monster; and not only that, but she'd also faced her fear.

"Way to go, Trini," Kim said, hugging her best friend tightly after she had rematerialized and Jason had helped her back to her feet.

"Thanks, guys," Trini said, hugging Nuala next. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Thanks for mine," Nuala said with a smile. She pulled away from the yellow Ranger, giving her space to hug Jason, Zack and Tommy, and turned to Billy, only to find him starting to disappear. "Billy?"

Billy stared at her. His left arm elevated out in front of him, but instead of being solid, like it should've been, it was becoming translucent. "It's no use," he said. "Even all my scientific knowledge can't get us out of this one. It failed."

"No, Billy, it's not your fault," Jason said. "Don't let Rita get to you."

"Quagmire, Rita's after Billy!" Trini yelled, desperately.

"I sense a fight in a land of dreams," Quagmire said, his fingers pressing against his temples. "Where Billy searches for his missing Queen."

Nuala frowned and looked from Quagmire to Billy. "You're missing Queen?" she asked. "What's he mean, Billy?"

"I failed her," the Blue Ranger said. "I promised her I'd look out for her, and I failed."

"That's not what Quagmire means by 'thinking positive,' Billy," said Trini. "I'm sure whoever you've supposed to have failed will forgive you."

"If it's a subconscious battle, Billy, then you're the one in control," Nuala said. "Your dream world is what you make it. Whatever happens there happens because you want it too."

"Come on, Billy, fight it."

"I can see her, but I can't reach her."

"Yes you can, Billy," Nuala said. "Come back to us. Come back to me."

Billy closed his eyes.

_He could see Nuala standing in the distance. He had been chasing her for what seemed like forever, but every time he got close enough to touch her she would disappear again. It was like he wasn't meant to have her. Reaching for her the hundredth time, Billy reached out to touch her and expected her to disappear._

_Instead Nuala turned to face him, a small smile on her lips. When their gazes met, her smile grew. "I've been waiting for you," she said._

_"I failed you," he said._

_"No, you didn't," Nuala said, kissing his cheek. "You saved me. Now it's time to come back... come back to me."_

Nuala exchanged looks with Trini, Kim and the others. Neither one of them was sure what was going on inside Billy's head, but the end result was simple enough to understand. Whatever he had been so afraid of had obviously worked itself out because he was no fully normal again.

"Wow! Prodigious!" Billy grinned, looking down at himself.

"Yay, Billy!" Trini said, as Nuala all-but fell into his arms again. The two hugged tighter than before, both seemingly afraid to let the other go in case they started to disappear again.

"Morphenomenal, you did it," Kim said, skipping forward and coming in to hug Billy from the side. Trini caught round them from the opposite side and Nuala laughed as she crushed between the two girls's.

Jason smiled as he high-fived Billy. "Maybe now we can find our power coins and get out of here," he said, looking around the deserted beach. He walked away towards the shore line, and stopped dead as Goldar called down to him from the sky.

Nuala and Tommy jumped, and looked up.

"Ha! I knew it," Nuala said, nudging the green Ranger. "I told you we were being watched."

"Hey, you didn't know he was there either," Tommy defended, rubbing his chest.

Nuala stuck her tongue out at him, and turned back to Jason as Goldar berated him about being a bad leader to the Power Rangers.

"He's right. I should have figured a way out," Jason said as his friends looked on in fear.

"Don't listen to her, Jase," Zack called. "Rita's just trying to make you doubt yourself."

"No. I should have done something," Jason said, shaking his head as he started to disappear.

"Quagmire, quickly, we need your assistance," Billy called out.

Quagmire appeared not that far from the Rangers and shook his head at Jason. "Dear, oh dear, nasty magic happening here," he said, clocking himself on the head with his flute before disappearing.

"It's not real, Jase," Nuala called. "Whatever you're seeing. It's not real."

"No! They're gone!" Jason yelled, staring directly at his friends. "They were depending on me and I let them all down."

"He can't see or hear us," Zack said.

"And it's making him disappear," Kim said, frightened.

Jason fell to his knees and looked down at his transparent hands. _**Inside, you know your power's great. You can win, just concentrate**_, he heard Quagmire say inside his head.

"That's it," Jason said, falling on to his hands. He closed his eyes and focused all of his might on the sheer determination of his own free will that burned inside. As long as he was still breathing he would never let anything happen to his friends, and he would never give up as a Power Ranger, not to Rita, not to anybody. "You haven't won yet, Rita!" he shouted to the skies.

"You did it, Jase!" Nuala called as she run ahead of the others, and hugged the red Ranger. Kim and Trini joined her shortly after with Tommy, Zack and Billy following behind.

"All right!" Jason said, hugging the three girls back.

Nuala grinned and pulled away from her friend, her almost brother and showed him her wrist. "Check it out," she said. Jason looked down to see her communicator resting at the base of her hand. He looked down at his own wrist to see his own communicator there.

"Our communicators," Jason chuckled.

"And our power coins," Kim agreed, reaching behind her.

"We could've had these all along," Trini said.

"Yeah, and we each had the power to break Rita's spell," Tommy added.

"All we needed was a little self-confidence," Zack said, patting Kim's shoulder. Suddenly the ground started to shake, an indication that either an earthquake was occurring or Rita was up to something bad again.

"We gotta get out of here," Kim said, struggling to maintain her balance.

"It's morphin' time!" Jason commanded.

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Returning to the respective Megazords - or Zord in Nuala's case - the Rangers combined both the Power Megazord and the Dragonzord to create the Megadragonzord, and used Nuala's now fully-charged Zord as the arsenal.

"Mutitis, attack!" Rita ordered, unable to believe that the Rangers had attacked her island of illusion. The monster snarled and charged forward.

"Megadragonzord, fight!" Jason shouted, pushing forward on his controls. He wielded the dire spear and stabbed it through the monster, causing him to howl in agony and step backwards, clutching its side. The creature roared and fired a round of lasers back at the rangers, but the Megazord merely walked through unscratched.

"We're going to need a little more fire power," Tommy said.

Nuala nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's bring his worst nightmare to life," she said.

"You heard her, Rangers, full power!" Jason said firing up every laser port he had access too. The others followed his lead and Tommy hit the fire bottom from his console. A bright sphere shot out of the Megazord chest, hit Mutitis and caused him disintegrate.

Rita watched, slack-jawed from her side of the building. She couldn't believe it. Another plan foiled by the meddlesome power brats.

"Alright, Lokar, you're next!" Jason said, pointing at the giant floating head. "We call on the power of titanus and the ultrazord."

Titanus was a Zord that the Rangers had received from Zordon for freeing Tommy from the Rita's evil hold, and completing an apparent prophecy that had been written years ago. One that spoke of a seventh Ranger that would start off Evil, but soon be guided back to the light side where he belonged.

"Let's do it, Rangers!"

Combining with Titanus, the Rangers rolled forward in their magnificent ultrazord and fired every ounce of energy they had at the floating head in the sky. It glowed a bright white, before transforming into a fireball and escaping into the night.

"Oh, no, you guys, Lokar got away," Kim said.

"Forget him," Jason said. "We'll get him next time."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

With the battle over and Rita back on the moon where she belonged. The Rangers returned to the Youth Centre to find Ciaran talking with David Jonathan and Ernie. He looked up as they entered and shot off his stool, barreling into the arms of his older sister and hugging her tightly.

"I thought I had lost you," he said, quietly.

"Take more than that to get rid of me," Nuala said, leading him back over the bar. Ciaran clambered back up onto his stool, and Nuala leaned beside him on the counter.

David smiled at her, finished his drink and then started to address the silver Ranger. "I made a few calls," he said, "and I think I may have found more than just a spotter for you."

"Oh?"

"You ever done pair figure skating?"

Nuala nodded. "Yeah, but I don't do it anymore," she said. Ever since Chris, who had been her partner for many years had attacked her, she had put aside all hopes of returning to the world of figure skating; but she now knew that whatever Chris had put her through was in the past, she needed to look past it and move on. But that didn't mean she had to accept another partner, and put her complete and utter trust in him.

"Oh, OK," David said. "Well, you don't have pair skate. I have plenty of girls for that stage of the competition. But if you're still up for training with a spotter, then I'd like you to meet Chris Anderson."

Ciaran, who was drinking his smoothie, choked and spat the thick liquid in his mouth back out over the counter. Kim cringed and Ernie grabbed a cloth to clean up the mess. He stared at Ciaran, curious as to why the young lad would spit out what he was drinking. But Ciaran wasn't paying attention to anything going on around him, neither was Nuala for that matter.

"Nuala?" Billy asked, touching the silver Ranger's shoulder. "Are you OK?"

Nuala didn't answer. She didn't even look at him. She did, however, grip onto the counter as her legs nearly gave out from underneath her. Billy's arms wrapped around her waist instantly, and held her up.

The person introduced as Chris Anderson smirked and stepped closer. "Hello, precious," he said, leering at Nuala in a manner that caused the other Rangers to become protective, and crowd around their friend. "Been a long time."

"Apparently not long enough," Ciaran said. "What are you doing here, Anderson?"

"What's it look like, Pipsqueak?" Chris snapped. "I'm here to regain what is mine, and then some. Tell me, Nuala, where is the bastard child that you call your - I mean, _our_ son."

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**This has to be the longest chapter I have written so far for this series. I don't know when the next update will be posted – it ****might**** be Friday, but I can't promise anything atm, seeing as it is my birthday (3****rd**** of July here in the UK), I doubt I will be doing any writing throughout the day. If I don't update Friday, you can guarantee and update on Saturday. I promise.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Thursday, July 03, 2014 at 2:41am**


	22. A Camping Trip

**Author's Note:** I apologize for being a very sucky updater these past few nights. I've just had a real downer week and nothing has been able to pull me out of my slump. I am, however, going to have to extend the wait between updates. I simply cannot update them with only two days between as it doesn't leave much room for my other stories. I got one or two more arcs that I want to show before I bring **A Dire Situation** to an end and start writing the second of the series. Please bear with me.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **I'm-not-your-savior**,** Phantom- of- light, MiraclesHappen94, YoshiStack, AvalonHeights, Alex B. Goode** and** Dg89** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

_"NO! LET ME GO!"_

_"Shut up you little bitch! Just shut up!"_

_"Please, stop... don't!"_

_"I said shut up!"_

_She screamed and wailed in agony as her body convulsed. But despite the pain she had still tried to fight back, much to his annoyance. To keep her under control he had grabbed her wrists, forcing them above her head, and whispered threateningly in her ear that he'd hurt her beloved family if she didn't do as he said._

_"Please... somebody help me..."_

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

_The doctor sighed and looked over his notes for Nuala. The sixteen year old was sitting on the hospital bed, pulling on her jacket while her mother stood beside her, waiting patiently. The look on Nuala's face was one of fear, and the look on her mother's face was that of knowing._

_"It's true, isn't it?" Lana Archer asked, looking to her daughter's doctor. "She's pregnant?"_

_The doctor hesitated. "We run the tests four times, just to be sure," he said. "But I'm afraid so."_

_Nuala sighed and looked down at her stomach, it was still flat now but in a few months it was going to be huge._

_"So, what do we do now?" Lana asked._

_"There is time for an abortion," the doctor said. "Given her age, we would need your consent to go ahead with the procedure. So, the decision lays with you, Mum."_

_At the word 'abortion' Nuala's head snapped up. "No," she said. "No, you can't kill my baby."_

_"I'm sorry, Nuala, but it's not your decision to make," the doctor said._

_"It's my baby," Nuala said, her hands protectively covering her stomach. "It's my child. I'm the one carrying not Mum. I won't let you hurt my baby! I don't care where she/he came from; I don't care how I got them. But I do know that I want him."_

_"Nuala, you're still only a child yourself," the doctor said. "Abortion is the only possible way -"_

_"I said no!" Nuala snapped. She looked quickly to her mother; her eyes were wide and pleading. "Please, Mum, don't kill my baby. Don't let him hurt my child."_

_Lana Archer sighed. She never once imagined that she would ever hear the word 'pregnant' when it concerned her children. She knew that at some point in their lives her babies would grow up and start a family of their own, but she never expected it to happen so soon. She also never expected her daughter - her only daughter - to be begging her to let her keep the unborn child._

_"Are you sure this is what you want, Nuala?" Lana asked. She and her late husband had always allowed Nuala and her brother Ciaran to make their own decisions, despite their ages, but it helped them develop a sense of independence and prepared them for life outside of the nest. "You're only sixteen."_

_Nuala nodded, and grasped her mother's hand. "I want this baby, Mum," she said. "I promise I'll do everything I can to be a good mother. I'll continue on in school for as long as I can, and then I'll do homeschooling if I have too. I'll better myself for the sake of my baby."_

_"What about your figure-skating and horse riding?"_

_"I can still compete," Nuala said. "At least until I start showing and everything becomes a little more dangerous."_

_"What if you never start showing?" Lana asked._

_"I'll still know that it's dangerous to continue past a certain stage."_

_Lana sighed, and looked considerate. "Are you sure you're ready, sweetheart?" she asked. "Taking care of a baby is a huge responsibility."_

_"I know, Mum," Nuala agreed. "But I want this baby. He didn't ask me to be conceived the way he was, and I'm not giving Chris the benefit of doubt of knowing that he's ruined my life. I won't let him use an innocent baby to try and catch me out. I'll show him that, despite what he did to me, I can still live a happy life with the best gift he has ever given me."_

_Lana licked her lips and squeezed her daughter's hand. "In that case," she said. "We better figure out a way to tell __Maimeó_, _Daide__ó and Ciaran."_

_Nuala's face split into a huge smile and, jumping from the bed she threw her arms around her mother, hugging her tightly. "Thanks, Mum," she said, happily. "Or should I say Mórai."_

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala cradled Ellis close to her as she sat on the swing seat outside of her front door. The morning sun was already high in the sky and burning brightly. Across the road she smiled and waved as Billy's father stepped outside his front door to get the morning newspaper.

"Good morning, Mr. Cranston," Nuala called. Despite her first meeting with Billy's father being... difficult, Nuala held the man in very high respects. Having gotten to know him over the past few months, she could see where Billy got his smarts from.

"Good morning, Nuala," Paul called back. "Sleep well?"

Nuala shrugged, half-heartedly. In all honesty she hadn't slept at all. The revelation of Chris being back had brought back old nightmares of the night of her attack. She assumed that Billy had told his father what had happened, especially since he hadn't gone home until late last night. He had wanted to stay with Nuala, to make sure that she felt safe, especially since she had almost fallen apart after leaving the Youth Centre yesterday.

The door behind Paul Cranston opened again, and this time Billy stepped outside. He instantly looked across at Nuala's house, said something inaudible to his father, and then walked across the street towards her. "You look like you haven't slept at all," he said, joining her on the swing.

"If I look as bad as I feel, then I'll take your word for it," Nuala replied, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Did you sleep at all?" Billy asked.

"On and off."

"How many hours?"

"Four, give or take," Nuala replied.

Billy sighed and rested his head on top of hers. "You should try and get some more," he said.

"I'm scared to close my eyes," Nuala admitted. "Every time I do, he's there."

"He can't hurt you," Billy said.

"You don't know that," said Nuala. "You don't know what he can do, what he is capable of."

"Maybe not. But you still need to sleep."

Nuala sighed and looked down at her son. He was sound asleep in her arms, still sucking on his morning bottle. He had slept generally all night, but that hadn't stopped her from having him in bed with her. She knew that she shouldn't have in the same bed as her, but she was terrified that if she let him go that she would wake up and find him gone.

"I'm scared," Nuala repeated. "What if he... what if I -?"

"Nothing is going to happen, Nuala. But you need to sleep."

She hesitated. Billy could understand why, but he also needed her to understand that not sleeping wasn't helping.

Nuala led Billy back into the house. It was quiet, what with Lana and Ciaran still asleep. It was only seven in the morning. Nuala had awoken to Ellis crying in hunger, and decided to get up and feed him. She had been awake since five already, just sitting on the bed and overthinking her current situation. She didn't know what she was going to do now Chris was back, she couldn't run again; where would she go for starts? She had come to Angel Grove to get away from him, and now he was here too. Why had he come here, and more importantly - how did he get released in the first place?

"Are you going to be OK?" Billy asked, leaning against the doorframe and watching Nuala set Ellis down in his cot.

"I don't know," Nuala whispered, tracing her finger across her son's face. She tucked his bear down beside him, and pulled the light blue blanket over his body. She then turned back to Billy. The next words out of her mouth stunned them both. "Will you stay?"

Billy blinked and stared, perplexed. "What?" he asked.

"Stay with me," Nuala said. "I don't want to be alone right now." She crawled under her blankets and patted the cooler side of her queen-size bed. "Please?"

Feeling his mouth go dry, but yet unable to say no, Billy lay beside her. Nuala smiled and shuffled closer, resting her head against his shoulder as she curved into his side. She had asked him to stay out pure innocence, nothing more. She knew that she could trust Billy to not take advantage of her. He wasn't like Chris, he was different, and that's why she liked him.

With Billy by her side, Nuala's dreams were full of brightness, not the dark, gloom and doom they had been filled with before.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

_"If my calculations are correct," Nuala said, adding up the months and days of her pregnancy. "I should have the baby on... February 19th, 1992."_

_"That's two days before Daddy," Ciaran said, sitting beside his sister. He was eating a bowl of cereal and watching her work out the due date before school. Being only a few weeks pregnant meant that Nuala could still go to school and get an education before the baby was due, unfortunately the news of her being pregnant had already spread and the whole school knew._

_Nuala smiled and ruffled her brother's head. Her father's birthday had been February 21st. He would've been 39._

_"Do you think he'd be proud of you?" Ciaran asked. "Not because of what happened, I bet he's furious over that, I mean, you were Daddy's little girl when he was alive. But do you think he's proud of you for keeping a baby that's the product of a sexual assault?"_

_"Junior didn't ask to be born through rape, Ci," Nuala replied, packing up her books and stuffing them into her backpack. "Besides, it's my choice. I want to keep this baby to prove to Chris that he can't hurt me."_

_"You think he did this intentionally? You know, to make you more dependent on him?"_

_Nuala shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "He'd be pretty sick and twisted if he did."_

_"He's sick and twisted anyway," Ciaran muttered._

_"True," Nuala said. "Come on, Uncle Ciaran, we're going to be late for school." She pressed a hand to her stomach, smiled and then hurried from the room. "I call shotgun!"_

_"Hey, no fair!" Ciaran shouted, chasing after her. "Why do you always get the front seat?"_

_"Because I'm older," Nuala replied, sliding into the passenger's seat and clipping her seatbelt into place._

_Ciaran stuck his tongue out and climbed into the front. "You're not being very mature for your baby, are you?" he asked._

_"It's just a blob!" Nuala protested._

_Ciaran gasped, mockingly. "Excuse you," he said, leaning forward and flicking his sister in the ear. "That's my nephew you're talking about."_

_"It could be your niece."_

_"Nah. You're having a boy," Ciaran said, sitting back as his mother climbed into the car._

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

When she woke again, Nuala noticed that it was already gone nine.

She sat up and looked around. She was in her bedroom alone. Billy was gone and, much to her horror, so was Ellis.

Throwing back the covers, the silver Ranger scrambled out of bed, wrenched open her bedroom door and rushed down the hall into the kitchen. She stopped short seeing her mother and brother awake, along with Billy and Ellis.

Chaos and Ceaser barked at the sight of Nuala and rushed towards her. They nudged her with their heads, and she reached down to pet them affectionately, before taking her son from Billy and hugging him. She had been scared when she woke up; terrified that somehow Chris had got in and had taken him.

"Sleep well?" Lana asked.

"Better the second time," Nuala said, smiling at Billy.

"I noticed," Ciaran teased. He laughed as both blue and silver Rangers blushed deeply. "Mum, are we still going camping today?"

Lana Archer looked at her son from over her coffee cup. "If you're sister is still up for it," she said. After hearing the news of Chris Anderson's re-appearance in Angel Grove, Lana had immediately suggested that she, her children and her grandson get away for a few days. They didn't have any relatives or immediate family in California that they could stay with, and she had a funny feeling if they had tried to go back to Dublin Chris would only follow them. Instead, knowing how much her children loved to camp, Lana had suggested a few days roughing it away from the city.

"If it gets me away from _him_, I don't care," Nuala said.

"Why don't you come with us, Billy?" Ciaran asked.

"That's not a bad idea," Lana said, looking between Nuala and Billy. "Why don't all you Rangers come? You can't say you haven't deserved it, and it's just for a few days."

Billy shrugged and looked at Nuala. "Sure. I don't mind a camping trip," he said.

"Then it's settled," said Lana. "We'll leave later this afternoon.

"What about the others?" Nuala asked. "We can't just assume that they'll come. What if they're busy?"

"Why don't you call them?" Lana suggested, handing her daughter the phone and taking Ellis from her. "Here. You make the arrangements, I'll change Ellis." She squeezed her daughter's wrist, and then walked out of the room with her grandson.

Nuala sighed and stared at the phone before dialling Kim's number.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

A few hours later, each of the Rangers gathered on the street outside Nuala's house. They were each carrying a duffel bag of clothes, and packing them into both Billy's and Lana Archer's cars. Lana's car had more bags, mostly because she had to accommodate for her two children and her grandson, whereas the Rangers had less items to worry about.

"This is going to be fun," Jason said, clearing some room in the back of Billy's car for the rest of the bags.

"Yeah, and it's for a good cause," Tommy agreed. "Billy said Nuala hasn't been sleeping since Chris's arrival in Angel Grove. Getting her away from the city for a few days may help her."

"I'm curious as to how he knew where to find her," Trini said.

"Or how he knows about Ellis," Kim added. As far as she knew, Nuala hadn't mentioned anything about being pregnant to her lawyer during the trial in Ireland. "Do you think he stalked her or something?"

"Probably," said Zack. "He seems creepy enough."

The sound of barking caused each of the Rangers to look up. Nuala was crossing the road with Billy, while Ciaran was playing with Chaos and Ceaser in the garden. The Archer family car was packed with enough bags to last a few days, and now all that was left to do was find a way to get Ceaser and Chaos into the car.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Jason asked the silver Ranger.

"I've been better," Nuala said, accepting a hug from Kim. "Mum wanted me to let you know what happened. How Chris is here, when he should be serving time in Ireland. For a few days now, we haven't been able to receive any incoming emails. Billy just got it working for us again, and there was email from our family lawyer. Apparently, because I left Ireland before the trial had ended, Chris's parents' saw fit to apply for an appeal for a lighter sentence; they claim that me leaving the country was an obstruction of justice. Where Chris was supposed to get four years, he only served four months - he's been out for the last three, and he found out from a few of my old friends that I had moved here."

"How did he know about Ellis?" Zack asked.

"I was still in school when I was pregnant," Nuala said. "I told my friends what had happened. The whole school knew I was going to be a Mother. If my old friends had told Chris where I had moved too, then you would've told him that I was pregnant. It's not hard to put two and two together."

"Fair point," Zack agreed.

"Well, at least we know how he knows," Jason said. "Now all we need to figure out is how to deal with him."

"You can't deal with him," Nuala said. "He's not one of Rita's monsters that you can just stop by morphin', and besides, unlike Rita's monster, Chris scares me. He's not going to stop terrorizing me until he gets what he wants, and what he wants is to right a wrong that should never have happened."

The Rangers exchanged confused looks. There was only one person amongst them who seemed to understand what Nuala was saying and that was Billy. The blue Ranger wrapped his arm around Nuala comfortingly, and looked to his friends. "In order to right his wrong, Chris needs to shut her up and then destroy the one that brings her strength."

"We won't let that happen," Kim said, catching Nuala's hand and squeezing it. "He's not getting anywhere near you or Ellis."

"I appreciate the help, Kim," said Nuala, "but you don't know Chris like I do. He'll manipulate a situation so that only he can win. I dread to think what he is already planning."

The rangers were silent for a moment, before Tommy broke it. He reached forward and took Nuala in his arms, hugging her tightly. "Hey, come on," he said. "Don't let this get you down, OK? If you keep thinking and worrying about what he's going to do, then you're not going to enjoy yourself for the next couple of days."

Nuala forced a smile and nodded. "Thanks, Tommy," she said.

"No problem," Tommy said.

"On that note, are we already?" Jason asked, looking around at the others. The sooner they got Nuala out of the city the better. The others nodded, while Nuala hesitated. "What's up?" he asked her.

Nuala shook her head quickly. "Nothing huge," she said. "I mean, we're ready to go, I just got to get Ceaser and Chaos into the car first. Excuse me," she said, hurrying back across the road to her home.

Soon all four Archers, plus the two Rotties were safely tucked away inside Lana's 1993 Ford Explorer. Given that the weather in California was always relatively humid, with little chance of rain, Lana had loaded the bags into the bed which left plenty of room inside for the small family. Pets included.

During the ride, Nuala stared out of the window. Behind her she could hear Ciaran making Ellis giggle, and she couldn't help but feel elated that her brother and son were OK. But despite the feeling of relief, she still felt a stab of fear. Why had Chris come after her now? What did he want? Hadn't he taken enough from her?

"Hey," Lana said, breaking the silence. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I'm fine," Nuala replied without breaking focus.

"Try," Lana said. "I highly doubt that it's going to be a short trip. Besides, Billy told me that you were awake at the crack of dawn this morning."

Nuala sighed and glanced at her mother. "I'm fine," she insisted.

"Nuala, honey..."

"I'm fine!" Nuala snapped, frustratingly. She instantly regretted it, but remained silent and stubbornly stared out of the window. She hadn't meant to snap at her mother, but the persistent nagging for her to sleep when she didn't want to was getting on her nerves.

Lana sighed and returned her eyes to the road. In the rear view mirror she caught Ciaran's eye and gently shook her head. "How about a little radio?" she asked, turning the dial. Music filled the car and in his car seat Ellis started to sway along to the sound. He didn't know the words, but he recognised the sound.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The cars ploughed on.

In Billy's car, the other Rangers were talking energetically about what they intended to do once they had reached the campsite. Tommy had suggested going up to his uncle's cabin by the lake, it was a place where they could do everything from swim to water-ski, and just have a general good time. While in Lana's car, Nuala had _finally_, after much protest, dropped off to sleep.

"Is she going to be OK?" Ciaran asked.

"She'll be fine," Lana replied, half-glancing at her daughter. "She just needs time away. Don't worry, OK? Everything's going to be fine."

"What if she relapses?"

"She won't."

"But what if she does?"

Lana sighed and shook her head. "Then we'll have to do what we did last time," she said.

"I don't want them to take her away," Ciaran said. The last time his sister had lapsed due to Chris's manipulations, she had nearly landed herself in a care home for the manically depressed. It was through the hard work of her General Doctor and medication that she managed to avoid it.

"They won't take her away," Lana promised. "We won't let that happen. I'll make sure to tell Jason and Billy the problems that Nuala has been through, they deserve to know, especially if they want to help. We'll make sure that she doesn't relapse, OK? Chris can't hurt us now, he can't hurt her."

Ciaran sighed and stared at his sleeping sister. Ahead he could see Billy's car turn left and hoped that they were reaching the lake soon. He was looking forward to a few days away from the problems of city life, and was eager to get to the lake. He also wanted to see his sister smile again; she hadn't done it since finding out that the person who made her life in Ireland hell was now in Angel Grove.

Upon reaching the campsite, Ciaran jumped out of the car, and whistled for Ceaser and Chaos to follow him. The two dogs ran head of their master and dove into the lake, sending ripples in all directions. Ciaran laughed, stripped down to his boxers and dove in after them.

Lana shook her head at her son, and climbed out of the car. She would leave Nuala where she was for the time being and unpack the bags from the bed. She was approached by Tommy and Jason who then offered to help her take the bags into the cabin that she would be using for the next couple of days.

Once everything had been unpacked, and everyone was settled in, Billy walked over to Nuala and called her name. He didn't want to freak her out and therefore refrained from touching her. "Nuala. Hey, Nuala, wake up," he said.

Nuala blinked away and smiled as she looked up into Billy's face. "Are we there yet?" she asked groggily.

"We've been here for little over half an hour," Billy chuckled, unlocking her door from the inside and opening it. He waited for her to climb down before closing it in her wake, and walking beside her to the cabin she would be using. "Jason, Tommy, Zack and I are over there," he pointed to a cabin across the way, "while Kim and Trini are next door. They say they have an extra bed if you want it."

Nuala nodded in understanding. "Thanks," she said. "But I think I'll stay where I am for now."

"OK. Well, Zack said something about going out on the lake," Billy said. "Do you want to come?"

"I'll catch up," Nuala replied. "I have to sort things out with Ellis first."

Billy nodded and let her slip away from him. She hadn't even reached the open door of her cabin when her communicator beeped. She stopped on the threshold and looked back at Billy; he caught her gaze and then looked around as the doors to the other two cabins snapped open. Jason and the others made their way over to Billy and so did Nuala.

"We read you Zordon," Jason said.

"_Rangers, there is a disturbance at the beach,_" Zordon replied. "_Our senses have detected Scorpina's energy signature. You must teleport to the beach immediately._"

The Rangers exchanged looks and a collective sigh escaped each of them. Their jobs as superheroes took the phrase 'no rest for the wicked' to whole new levels.

"Nuala?" Lana called, stepping outside of her cabin with Ellis.

"I'll be right back, Mum," Nuala called back, teleporting out with her friends.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Arriving at the beach, Nuala was the first to notice Ciaran's friends, Matthew and Riley. Matthew was clutching an empty glass bottle in his hands, while Riley held a scrap of paper. Scorpina had cornered between the rocks with a small army of Putties and a giant rock formation. Upon closer inspection Nuala could see that the rock formation was actually a monster.

"Over there!" Nuala said.

Her attention shifted from the two boys, Scorpina looked around to see the Rangers. She sneered and sent the Putties after them, before sending in the Rock monster.

Nuala ducked to avoid the rock monster's attack, and swept the feet of two putties out from underneath them. As she fought she noticed Scorpina had returned her attention back to the two boys, and quickly rushed forward to defend them.

"Nuala, wait!" Jason called, seeing her run off.

"Ha!" Nuala said, landing in front of Matthew and Riley. She blocked Scorpina's punch, and delivered a sharp kick to the stomach. The she-witch doubled over and stumbled backwards in surprise. Using Scorpina's surprise to her advantage, Nuala turned to the two boys behind her and urged them to run. "Go, get out of here!"

Not needing to be told twice, Matthew and Riley took off.

"No!" Scorpina yelled. She tried to go after them, but was cut off by Nuala. Once the two boys were completely out of sight, Nuala reached behind her for her Power Coin. "It's Morphin' time - Dire Wolf!" she commanded, as her spandex snapped into place. "Dire Spear!"

Scorpina growled and parried Nuala's spear with her sword. The two fought back and forth for a few minutes. Nuala wasn't exactly sure what had come over her, but seeing Scorpina threatening her brother's friends had caused her to become defensive.

"I will get that map, silver Ranger," Scorpina swore, locking blades with Nuala. "You can count on it!"

"Don't get your hopes up," Nuala said.

The two pushed away from each other, and Scorpina disappeared. The Rockstar did the same, and the Rangers regrouped.

"What was that about?" Zack asked, rubbing his neck. He demorphed along with the others, and looked around at his friends.

"I think it has something to do with the map that Matthew and Riley had," Nuala answered. "Before she left, Scorpina said that we could count on her getting it."

Kim sighed. "Then Matthew and Riley are still in trouble," she said.

"Yeah. We got to find them before she does," Nuala said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Zack asked. "Let's go."

Jason nodded and the six of them teleported from the beach. When they touched down again they were in a woodland area, just north of the beach. The team walked through the trees calling the names of Ciaran friends in hopes of drawing them out of their hiding places.

"How do we know we're going the right way?" Nuala asked, worried about her brother's friends. "I didn't exactly give them a specific place to run to, I just told them to get away from the beach."

"This is the only cover for miles," Jason said. "I highly doubt they'd stay in plain sight. Besides, this is where Alpha redirected our teleportation sequence."

"Fair point," Nuala said. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out the two boys' names again. There was no reply.

Jason's communicator beeped. "We read you, Zordon," he said, activating the call.

"_You must go fight Scorpina and her Rockstar monster at the beach club_," Zordon replied.

"But what about Matthew and Riley?" Jason asked.

"You guys go," said Nuala. "I'll stay and look for them."

"Nuala," Jason started.

"I'm not leaving without them," Nuala said.

"That's not what I'm worried about," Jason replied. "What if Chris is out here someplace?"

Nuala hesitated. She hadn't thought about that. She'd been so worried about Matthew and Riley that she'd completely forgotten about Chris. But then, Chris would've been looking for _her_ not the silver Ranger. If she morphed then she could avoid him. "I'll search for them in my Ranger form," she explained. "Chris will be expecting me, not the silver Ranger. You guys go and deal with Scorpina, once I have found Matthew and Riley, I'll meet you there."

Jason still looked hesitant, but knew that he'd lost the argument. "Be careful," he warned, as older brothers did.

"I will," Nuala promised.

"OK, then," Jason said, looking around at the others. "It's Morphin' time."

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Panting heavily, Matthew and Riley ran for their lives through the woodland area. Behind them they could hear the usual garbling of the puppet-like putties that were attacking Angel Grove on a daily basis. But to their annoyance they had run for cover into a woodland area that they were not familiar with and therefore had no idea where they were heading.

"I think it's this way," Matthew said, stopping at the edge of a huge field. He pointed to his left at the trees surrounding him. He knew for sure that if he and Riley were to enter the wide open area then they'd be sitting ducks; there was no possible way that they'd make it to the other side without the putties catching them first.

"Are you sure?" Riley asked. He was clutching the map they had found at the beach tightly in his hand.

Matthew shook his head, and explained his reasoning's for wanting to continue on into the trees. It was more of a safety thing than anything. Deciding to go with his friend's better judgement, Riley quickly agreed and they took off. Slipping into the shadow of the trees as the putties reached the field.

"Come on," Matthew said, running ahead of Riley. He slipped around a corner and dived under a fallen log. Riley joined him, sliding into the pit as a horde of putties passed by where they had just been standing.

"What happens if they find us?" Riley whispered.

"Shh!" Matthew snapped, covering his mouth with his hand as a putty turned around. They needed to be as quiet as possible in order to escape the putty patrollers.

Not seeing anything, the putty's moved on.

Matthew and Riley waited a few more minutes before slipping out from under the fallen log. They looked to each other and then down at the map. It had to have been important if the putties were looking for it.

"There they are," shouted a voice.

Both teens looked up to see the brunette woman who had attacked them at the beach, running towards them again. She brandished her sword in front of her, as a giant rock formation charged along behind her.

"RUN!" Matthew yelled, taking off ahead of Riley.

The younger of the two slipped and hit the ground hard.

Scorpina laughed as she reached the fallen kid, and raised her sword to strike him down.

_**CLASH!**_

"Uh?!" Riley lifted his head from his arms to see Scorpina's sword had been stopped by a thin pole with a spear attached to the end. He looked up to see the silver Ranger standing over him. He couldn't see her face due to her helmet, but he could tell that she wasn't in the mood to deal with evil.

"Go, run," the silver Ranger said, grabbing Riley by the arm and force him along the trail. She waited until he was out of sight and then turned back to Scorpina. "Picking on kids more defenceless than you? How pathetic."

Scorpina sneered and charged at Nuala.

Meanwhile, Riley ran and ran. Behind him he could hear the battle between the silver Ranger and Scorpina, but he hadn't dare stay to watch. The garbling of putties had returned and they were once again on his trail. Turning a corner, Riley stifled a scream as a hand shot out, grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him back behind a tree. He was ready to yell out in fear when he saw it was only Matthew. The older teen had his finger pressed to his lips, and a rock in his hand.

The putties had stopped nearby. Using the rock, Matthew threw it into the bush on the other side of the path. The rustling drew in the putties, and the two boys let out a sigh of relief. With the putties gone, Matthew turned back to his friend. "What happened?" he asked.

"I tripped," Riley answered.

"You always were clumsy," Matthew said, rolling his eyes. "How did you get away?"

"The silver Ranger."

"You saw a Power Ranger?"

Riley nodded. "She was as close to me as you are right now, and she touched me!" he said, excitedly. "I can't wait to tell the guys! They're never going to believe me."

Matthew shook his head, and snatched the map from Riley. "According to this, we're less than ten steps away from the treasure," he said. "Come on, it says to take ten steps in that direction." He pointed ahead of them.

Riley, still excited by the idea of being saved by a Power Ranger, followed after him. Soon they reached a formation of boulders, but no X to mark the spot.

"What's this?" Riley asked, kneeling down at the base of the biggest boulder and scraping back the dirt. "Hey, Matt, I found something!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Matthew asked, helping pull back the dirt. They uncovered what appeared to be a trilobite but when they flipped it over a glare from the sun reflected back at them.

"PUT IT DOWN!"

Startled by the shouting, Riley spun around, bouncing the rays of the sun off of the mirror and towards the silver Ranger, she ducked aside and the beam of light hit a putty that had been creeping up on her. The putty froze and disintegrated as it was burnt to a crisp.

Riley and Matthew gasped, and dropped the mirror.

"Are you kids OK?" Nuala asked, rushing over to their sides. She shoved the mirror aside with her foot and knelt down.

"Y-y-you're a Power Ranger?" Matthew stammered.

Nuala rolled her eyes and nodded. "Mhm," she said. "Come on, I've got to -" she cut off as she heard the familiar yells of her friend from the beach below. Glancing at the boys she told them to stay put, and then carefully edged closer to the cliff top. She watched as Scorpina and her Rockstar monster made quick work of her friends. "Oh no! I have to help them."

"Use this," Riley said, holding the mirror. "It destroyed the putty that had come after you."

"How does it work?" Nuala asked.

"Well, we don't know exactly," Matthew said. "The glare of the sun finished the putty."

Nuala looked thoughtful. "OK. But you guys have to promise me you'll wait here," she said. "No more running off, OK?"

"We promise," Riley said.

Nuala smiled and took the mirror. She held it under her arm and jumped off the cliff top, landing in front of her friends. "Guys, you OK?" she asked, kneeling beside Billy. The blue Ranger nodded and sat up.

Jason shook his head and then spied the item under Nuala's arm. "What have you got there?" he asked.

"I don't know what it is exactly," Nuala answered. "But every time it reflects the suns glare it gives off this beam of light that'll destroy anything that is caught in its path. Matthew and Riley used it to stop a putty patroller that had tried sneaking up on me."

"Let's try it against the Rockstar," Billy said.

Jason nodded and Nuala held the mirror up in front of her. She balanced it on her knees and maneuverer it so that it reflected the suns glare directly at the Rockstar monster.

"NO!" Scorpina yelled as a bright blue beam of light shot out from the centre of the mirror and disintegrated her monster. She snarled and pointed her sword at Nuala. "Mark my works, silver Ranger, this will not go unpunished. I'll be back."

Nuala watched as Scorpina disappeared, and then she relaxed. "I'll be waiting," she promised.

"I think you just made a new enemy, Nuala," said Kim.

"Well, I definitely didn't make a new friend," Nuala muttered. "Speaking of friends," she added, passing the mirror to Jason and jumping to her feet. She run to the base of the cliff and looked up. "Hey, you two, you still there?"

Matthew and Riley appeared at the edge and waved down. Nuala sighed and motioned for them to come down and join her. With each of them safe, she knew that not only would Ciaran be glad, but she'd also rest easy. "Let's get you two back home, shall we?" she asked.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

With the Rockstar destroyed and Scorpina back on the moon with Rita. Nuala took Matthew and Riley back to the city, dropping them off outside the Youth Centre. She knew that she'd be the talk amongst them and their friends, and when Ciaran returned to the city they undoubtedly tell him about their experience with the silver Ranger too - it was, she'd admit, nice to be looked up to as a role model. For some time now she'd never imagined herself as anybody's role model.

Once the two boys had disappeared, Nuala teleported back to the campsite and found her friends sitting around the lake. Ciaran was with them, and so were her mother and Ellis. The little boy squealed as soon as he saw his mother and crawled, as quickly as he could across the sand to her feet. He plopped himself down on his bum and held his hands up to her. Nuala smiled and scooped him up, spinning him around and making him laugh with delight.

"When are you going to start walking, huh?" she asked, kissing his forehead and walking over to her friends.

"Don't be in such a rush for him to start walking, Hun," Lana said. "I remember wanting you to start walking, and when you finally did, I regretted it."

Nuala smiled and sat down next to Billy in the circle. She placed Ellis in her lap and looked at the mirror of destruction that was laid out - mirror side down - on the sand. "Any ideas on how to destroy it?" she asked.

"We're waiting for Alpha," Trini answered.

"Breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck to the person doing the breaking," Ciaran pointed out.

"We're Power Rangers," Nuala said. "Bad luck is in the job description."

Ciaran rolled his eyes, and jumped as Jason's communicator beeped. "We read you, Zordon," the red Ranger said, accepting the call.

"_Power Rangers, Alpha has run a diagnostic on the mirror of destruction and has found a way to ultimately destroy it,_" Zordon said. "_A swift cut from the power sword should be enough to end its existence._"

Nuala glanced at Billy and Kim, and then turned to Jason. He was the Ranger with a miniature version of the power sword and therefore was the one fitting enough to do the deed of destruction.

Jason saw the looks his friends were giving him and sighed. "Thanks, Zordon," he said, ending the call and using his power coin to summon his power sword. It was the first time he had ever used it without being morphed and knew that he needed to be careful. It was the power suit that made it so he could control the power that had been bestowed upon him when he accepted to be the red Ranger, and without it the power sword would be too hot to handle.

"Ready?" Zack asked, getting to his feet and holding up the mirror. When Jason nodded the black Ranger tossed the mirror into the air and Jason sliced through it with his sword. There was a split second pause, and the mirror shattered, showering the Rangers, Ciaran, Ellis and Lana in a shimmer of blue ashes.

With the mirror destroyed, the communicators beeped again.

"_Another job well done, Rangers,_" Zordon said. He and Alpha must've been watching them from the Command Centre via the viewing globe.

"Thanks, Zordon," said Jason, as his friends exchanged proud smiles. Once again they had managed to protect the world against Rita Repulsa and her band of mutant minions.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**Next update should be sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.**_

_**See you then.**_

**For those wondering "**_Maimeó_, _Daide__ó_**"** **means "**_Grandmother and Grandfather_**" in Irish.**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Monday, July 07, 2014 at 12:59am**


	23. Evil by Nature, Part I

**Author's Note:** I will try and get part two of this arc updated by Saturday at the latest. I intend to have another confrontation between Nuala and Chris, but am finding it difficult to slip in, so it may not appear until the second season of Nuala's adventures as a Power Ranger. So, yes, unfortunately, he is going to be around for a while.

**Dedications:** Thank you to: **Seraphis88** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

Monday came faster than any Nuala wanted or expected. The previous evening she and the other Rangers had left their camping trip at the lake behind, and returned to their busy lives in Angel Grove. The first thing on the agenda for that morning was school, and since Chris had waited for Nuala in a locker room only a year ago, she didn't feel safe driving herself and Ciaran to school. Instead she had requested her mother make the trip from their suburban home to the high school. Knowing of her daughters fears, Lana had agreed.

Clutching her backpack close to her chest, Nuala and Ciaran made their way through the busy hallways to their lockers. They had promised their mother that they were behave and return straight home from school - they'd promise to teleport if it made things easier, although they both knew that they were supposed to use the teleportation system for personal gain.

Upon reaching her locker, Nuala smiled at Zack and Tommy as they talked about the upcoming dance later that week.

"Hey, Nuala, you going to the dance?" Zack asked, walking over and leaning on the locker next to his friends.

"Probably not," Nuala replied. "Even if I was going to, I don't have a date."

"I'm sure there's _someone_ out there willing to take you," Zack said, grinning at Tommy. They both knew that Billy had been working up the nerve to ask Nuala to the dance, but always kept falling short of his own expectations because of his nerves.

"Besides, don't you have anyone in mind?" Tommy asked. "Why don't you ask them?"

"Because I'd get so nervous that I'd choke," Nuala replied. She pulled her binder and biology folder from her locker, and slammed the door in her wake. "Where are the others? Jason and I are supposed to be getting our biology reports back today."

"On the frog?" Ciaran asked.

"No, we had an 'A' on that one," Nuala said, proudly. "This one is for the Starfish that we did last week. Thankfully there was very little scalpel work to be done; it was mostly observing and answering questions."

"Did Jason do all the examining this time?" Tommy asked.

Nuala nodded. "We have a system," she said. "He does the class work, and I do the report. That way we're both winners."

"Why couldn't you have taken biology with me?" Zack asked. "My partner expects us _both_ to do the work, and write separate reports."

Nuala chuckled and patted her friend on the shoulder. She then focused her attention on Tommy. "Coming back to the dance, have you asked Kim yet?" she asked.

"No," Tommy answered.

"What? Why not?" Nuala asked.

"For the same reasons Billy hasn't asked you," Tommy said. "I'm nervous."

Nuala blushed at the idea of Billy asking her to the dance, and then shook her head as Zack and Ciaran snickered at her from behind her back. "Look, I'm telling you, Kimberly's going to say yes," she said. "But you have to ask her first."

"So you think I should ask her today?"

Zack and Nuala exchanged looks and then noticed the seriousness on Tommy's face.

"That was a trick question, right?" Zack asked.

Tommy glared lightly at them both. "OK, if you guys are so sure about the outcome, let's see you in action," he said.

"Uh, did you forget about the part where I said I'd choke?" Nuala asked. "Besides, I don't even know if I am going."

"Fine. Zack, your turn," Tommy said to the black Ranger.

Zack sighed and looked around for his target. He spotted Angela nearby with a couple of her friends and grinned. "OK, first off, you need to catch her eye with your walk," he swayed over to Angela, causing her to stop and stare at him.

Angela then rolled her eyes and carried on walking.

"Then you have to impress her with some smooth spins," said Zack, spinning in a complete circle. Tommy and Nuala exchanged amused looks as Angela merely continued on, without so much as a glance in Zack's direction.

"What's going on?" Kim asked, as she and the others finally arrived.

"Zack's demonstrating the way to ask the girl of your dreams to the dance on Friday," Ciaran answered, watching as Zack cut Angela off and smiled at her. He laughed as Angela completely blew him off and then walked away with her friends.

"Yeah, definitely smooth," Tommy chuckled, as Zack walked back to his friends. "But still, real impressive."

"Yeah. Real impressive," said Bulk as he and Skull arrived. "If you're trying to get a date with a carnival geek. What's the matter, guys, can't get a date?"

"If you're such experts, you teach us," Zack said, leaning back against his lockers.

Bulk scoffed and pulled his jacket up over his head, zipping it up so that only his face could be seen.

"Hey, Bulk, I wouldn't do that," Nuala said, but he didn't listen - not that he did anyway.

"Roses are red. Violet are blue," said Bulk, mockingly. "No girl in the world's going to go out with you."

Skull laughed at the play on words but soon his laughter died as Bulk announced that he was stuck inside his jacket. "What do you mean you're stuck?" he asked.

"Get me out of here!" Bulk said, tugging at his jacket. "I can't breathe."

"Alright, hold still," Skull said, tugging at the zip, but it was stuck fast. With both Bulk and himself pulling at the jacket, Skull slipped and fell, bringing his best friend down with him.

The whole hallway burst into laughter.

"Yo, ladies, check this out," Zack said, kneeling down beside the two wannabe bullies.

"Roses are red," Tommy started.

"Violets are blue," Zack added.

"We sure can learn something from you," they finished together.

"Not," Ciaran said, laughing.

Nuala rolled her eyes at her brother, but couldn't find it within herself to scold him for joining in. It was all in good fun after all.

Just then the bell rang, signaling the beginning of first period. With promises to meet up at lunch, the Rangers and Ciaran dispersed. Jason hung back to collect his biology books from his locker, and Nuala said she'd meet him in class.

Disappearing around the corner, Nuala stumbled as she walked into something solid. She apologized and looked up, only to drop her books in surprise as she saw it had been Chris. "You know, I always wondered how someone so ungraceful on their feet could be a champion figure-skater," he said, leering down at her.

Nuala ignored him and scrambled to pick up her binder and folders. Chris hadn't changed a bit since she had last seen him; he was still a bully and enjoyed the use of verbal abuse as well physical. "I was thinking," he continued. "It's time I met my son

"No," Nuala said, shaking her head.

Chris growled and, grabbing both her arms, hauled her to her feet. "He's my son," he said, shoving her up against the lockers. "You can't take him away from me."

Nuala groaned and hung her head.

"How does say four sound?" Chris asked, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look up at him. Nuala whimpered in pain and Chris took it as an agreement. "Good. I know where you live, no point waiting for me after school." He let her go and walked away, leaving Nuala hold back her tears as she watched him leave.

Once Chris was out of sight, Nuala slid down onto the floor and buried her head in her arms. She could feel the coldness of her tears on her skin, and suddenly felt the need to run. For once she didn't care about class, she didn't care about school. She needed to get away... far away.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

During lunch, while the other Rangers and Ciaran searched for a missing Nuala, Tommy asked Kim if she'd accompany him for a walk as he needed to ask her something. While they walked Kim couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Tommy had sounded so serious when he had asked her out here, and now he seemed nervous about something.

"What's on your mind?" Kim asked, hoping to break the tension and get him to open up to her.

"Well, I wanted to know if..." Tommy said, stumbling over his words.

"Yes?" Kim prompted him.

"If maybe you'd like to, uh..."

"Like to what, Tommy?" Kim asked, concerned over his nervousness.

"Kim, I just don't know how to ask you this," Tommy admitted.

"Come on, Tommy, we're friends, you can ask me anything," Kim said, playfully punching his shoulder.

"Really?"

Kim nodded.

"All right. Here it goes," Tommy sighed, plucking up enough courage to get it over with. "Um... Kim, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to the -" he was interrupted a swarm of putties surrounded them.

Kim looked around, nervously. There was no escape. "Look out!" she shouted, ducking as one of the clay heads jumped at her. It sailed straight over her and knocked Tommy forward into another one.

The green Ranger grunted as he fought off the foot soldiers with ease, but was easily overpowered when he heard Kim desperately calling his name. He turned to see what the problem was, only to find she had been captured and rendered to her knees.

"Tommy, my morpher!" Kim cried, as the putties held her by the arms.

"I can't reach mine either!" Tommy called back, as he too was forced to his knees. "What do you want, Metal head?" he snapped as Goldar appeared in a flash of flames.

"Take him!" Goldar ordered the putties holding Tommy.

The two holding Kim tossed her aside and hurried over to Tommy and the others. They disappeared and Goldar turned onto Kim.

"Say goodbye to the green Ranger forever," Goldar laughed, before disappearing too.

Kim grabbed her morpher and looked back to the place where Tommy had once fought. He was nowhere to be seen, and she was unsure of what to do next.

Carefully, Kim lifted herself to her feet and checked her wrist watch. She still had a few minutes until lunch ended, if she could find her friends and explain to them what had happened, maybe they could figure out how to help Tommy. Clutching her morpher, Kim pressed the corners of her communicator and teleported to her friends' location.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

They were at Nuala's house. The silver Ranger had left school earlier that morning after a run in with Chris, and was mid-way through arguing with her mother about phoning the police when Ciaran and the others turned up. After telling them what had happened, and reassuring Jason that even if he had been there, there was nothing he could've done, the team managed to talk Nuala out of running again.

"We know you're scared, Nuala," Jason said, wrapping his arm around his friends' shoulder. "But running isn't the answer. If you run, all you're doing is giving Chris more power over you. You have to stand and face him. You had Ellis to prove that, no matter what he did to you, you weren't going to give him control over you. So why are you shying away from him now?"

"I don't him to hurt me or anyone else," Nuala said. "I know if I fight against him, then me or someone I care about is going to get hurt. But I also don't want him to see my son because I know he'll hurt him. I can't let anything happen to Ellis which is why we both need to go."

"Where are you going to?" Jason asked. "You came here to California to get away from your past, and it followed you, that just goes to prove that no matter where you go, he'll find you."

"You're supposed to be cheering me up, Jase," Nuala said. "Not making me feel worse."

"Sorry," Jason apologized. "But I'm trying to make you see sense. Tell me you realise that you can't run from him. Your only option is to face him."

"I'm scared."

"Don't be scared," Zack said. "We'll be right there behind you. You're not in Dublin anymore, Nuala, you have friends now."

"Yeah, friends who don't want to see you hurt," Trini added.

"Friends who care about you," said Billy.

"About you _and_ Ellis," Jason said. "We don't want to lose you any more than you don't want to lose him."

"Then what do I do?" Nuala asked. "I can't fight him. At least not physically."

"Maybe you won't have too," Jason said. "He assaulted you at school. That's enough to file a restraining order."

"Plus, if they look into his records and see that he has been to prison before, and he went away because he assaulted you, another assault charge on his record might be enough for him to be sent away again," Trini said.

"You just have to go to the police," Billy said.

Nuala swallowed and looked up at the blue Ranger. "What if it's not enough? Or what if he escapes again or breaches the restraining order. This is the first place he is going to come."

"If he breaks the restraining order then you can take him to court for violation," Trini said. "Don't worry, Nuala, we've got your back on this one."

Nuala hesitated, and then smiled. It was nice knowing that she had friends fighting in her corner. The last time she'd gone up against Chris her only defence had moved back to Stone Canyon, not that she had wanted Adam to go on the stand for her anyway. He was there to enjoy a summer break away, not stand trial.

While the Rangers helped Nuala get her story straight – Trini had even opted to writing down the occurrence of events to help Nuala focus – Lana had let Kim into the house, and directed her down the hall to her daughter's bedroom. The pink Ranger smiled and hurried on her way, bursting into the room and looking from each of her friend to the next.

"We got a problem," Kim said, before anyone could ask her what was wrong. "Goldar attacked, and he took Tommy."

"What?" Jason asked. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know," Kim said. "But we have to help him."

Jason hesitated. They had to help Tommy, but they had also promised Nuala that they'd help her against Chris. Unfortunately they couldn't do both at the same time, and they only had until four that afternoon until Chris turned up at the Archer household to claim his son.

"Nuala, is there any chance your mother can stall for time, at least until we find Tommy?" Jason asked.

"I can ask her to take Ellis somewhere crowded," Nuala said. "The more people around, the less likely Chris is to attack."

"Or they could just come with us to the command centre," Ciaran said. "I'm sure Zordon and Alpha won't mind. After all, it's not like Mum doesn't know the secret."

Nuala nodded in agreement. "I'll rest easier knowing that they are somewhere that Chris can't get," she said.

"OK. Go grab them both and meet us at the command centre," Jason said.

Nuala nodded and hurried from the room. She turned into the kitchen and explained the situation to her mother.

"So, you want me to come to the command centre to hide from Chris?" Lana asked. "You know I'm not afraid of him."

"I know," Nuala said. "But I am. I don't want to risk him hurting you and taking Ellis or hurting you both."

"Chaos and Ceaser will be here to protect us," Lana said.

"Mum, please, just come with me," Nuala said, tears forming in her eyes. "As much as I love Chaos and Ceaser, I can't replace you or Ellis. I know Chaos and Ceaser will be OK; if Chris is foolish enough to try and break in here he won't stand a chance against them."

Lana hesitated.

"Please, Mum!"

"Oh, alright!" Lana sighed. "Grab Ellis."

Nuala wiped away her tears of desperation and scooped up her son from in front of the TV. She hugged him and then turned back to her mother. "Ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be," Lana said, taking her daughter's and.

Nuala smiled and lifted her communicator to her lips. "A little help here, Billy," she said, and seconds later a silver cylinder encased both herself, Ellis and her mother, and the three of them disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"What would Rita want with Tommy now?" Ciaran asked as the rest of his family arrived. He had lost count how many times he had been at the Ranger's command centre, but for his mother this had been the second time in nearly four months. Whilst she knew the secret identities of the Power Rangers, she still wasn't involved with them as much as Ciaran was.

"What if she is trying to regain control of him?" Kim asked.

"Can she do that after all this time?" Zack asked.

"I don't know," Jason said, shrugging lightly. "How's it coming, Zordon?" he added, looking up at the glass cylinder.

"I can't get a lock on him," Zordon replied. "Rita must be holding him in her dimensional prison."

"Billy, you come up with anything?" Jason asked the blue Ranger.

"Not yet. I'm still trying to tune into the frequency on Tommy's morpher," Billy explained as Nuala wrapped her arms around Kim. Suddenly the alarms started to blare; alerting the Rangers to a new threw within Angel Grove.

Kim groaned and lowered her head.

"Talk about bad timing," Trini muttered turning to the viewing globe. "Guys, it's the dragonzord!" she gasped. The others spun around in surprise.

"That can only mean one thing," Zack said, looking to Jason.

"One of two things," Nuala corrected quickly. More for Kim's sake than anyone else's. "Just because the Dragonzord is rampaging downtown doesn't mean that Tommy has turned against us. Rita may just have control of the Dragonzord, not the green Ranger."

Zack hesitated and then nodded. "You're right," he agreed. "I shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"We got to stop it," Jason announced, as the Dragonzord continued to destroy more and more of the warehouse district.

"Wait, Nuala was correct in assuming that you should not jump to conclusions," Zordon interrupted. "My sensors indicate that the Dragonzord you are about to face is an imposter."

"So it's one of Rita's creations?" Trini asked.

"It would make sense," Billy said. "She's trying to lure us into a trap."

"Obviously it wasn't a very well thought out plan," said Zack.

"Either way," said Jason, "we don't have a choice. Whether it's the real dragonzord or not it's got to be stopped."

Zordon nodded. "Be careful, Power Rangers," he said.

"It's morphin' time!" Jason called, reaching behind him for his power morpher. The others followed his lead and morphed into their respective colours. As his sister and her friends called upon their Zords, and teleported to the battle, Ciaran remained behind to help Alpha and Zordon search for Tommy.

"_Where's Tommy, Goldar?_"

"_You'll never see your friend again!_"

Ciaran and Lana watched on helplessly as Jason, Kim and Billy battled Goldar and his putties, whilst Zack, Nuala and Trini tried to stop the Dragonzord with the Zords. But three Zords were no match for the colossal power of the Dragon.

"_Jason, we need help!_"

"_Hold on guys, we're coming! We need Dinozord power, now!"_

With a deafening roar the last three Dinozords joined their friends and combined together to create the Power Megazord. Tearing his eyes away from the viewing globe, Ciaran turned his attention to Alpha. "Anything?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," Alpha answered.

Ciaran sighed and looked back at the viewing globe. The last time Rita had kidnapped one of the Rangers, she had captured him as well. He and Jason had been taken to another dimension where Jason had been forced to fight Goldar, resulting in his own injuries.

Subconsciously, Ciaran rubbed his side where the scar he had received from Goldar's sword still remained. He then gasped and spun around. "Zordon, what if Rita's taken Tommy to the dark dimension?" he asked. "It's the same place that they took Jason and me."

"Those are my thoughts exactly, Ciaran," Zordon said.

"Well, can't you locate Tommy there and teleport him out?" Ciaran asked. "I mean, you did it with me and Jase."

"Unfortunately, the one way to locate Tommy is via his morpher," Zordon said. "If Rita has indeed taken him to the dark dimension, then we can assume that she has stripped him of his morpher. His communicator will not work there, so he cannot call for help, and without his morpher he is trapped."

Ciaran sighed as is plan fell a part in front of him. "Can't we at least try?" he asked. "That Dragonzord may not be the real thing, but it's under Rita's influence. The Ranger's aren't strong enough to fight it, they need Tommy's help."

"Zordon, he provides a good point," Alpha agreed.

"I agree, he does," Zordon said, nodding. "Alpha, can you locate Tommy in the dark dimension?"

"If I use the same door that we created when Jason and Ciaran were there then, yes, I've got him!" Alpha cried, happily. "Locking on to green morpher - teleporting now!"

There was a flash of green and Tommy appeared behind Ciaran. He heaved a heavy sigh and collapsed to his knees, almost out of breath. "What happened?" he asked.

"There's no time to explain," Zordon said. "The other Rangers are in need of your assistance."

Tommy observed the viewing globe, and reached behind him for his morpher. "Hold in there guys," he said. "I'm on my way. It's morphin' time - Dragonzord!" He teleported out the second he had morphed.

Ciaran grinned and high-fived Alpha victory.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Appearing on a rooftop overlooking the Megazord battle, Tommy raised his flute to his lips and blew. The water nearby exploded high into the air and the real Dragonzord emerged from the depths.

From her place inside the Dire Wolf cockpit, Nuala sighed in relief as the real Dragonzord stopped beside her. "Good to see you too," she said as it brushed against her Dire Wolf in an affectionate way.

Playing his flute again, Tommy commanded the Dragonzord to spin around and smash its tail into the fake Dragon, which then turned a combination of bright blue and purple before revealing its true identity - a giant white monster with one eye.

The monster waved his arms around and transformed, momentarily into the power Megazord, and then returned to normal. It then stomped its foot and turned back into the Dragonzord before losing its power again, and returning to a Cyclops.

"We must've hurt him," Nuala said. "He can't hold his shape anymore."

"Let's finish him," Jason said, wielding the power sword around. He slashed at the Cyclops monster, but he disappeared before the sword struck him.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Zack asked, looking around.

Nuala checked her indicators, but shook her head. There was no reading of the monster anywhere on her console. "I think he's gone guys," she confirmed.

"Yes!" Jason said. "Way to go, Tommy."

"You can thank, Ciaran," Tommy replied.

"Why, what did Ciaran do?" Nuala asked, quickly.

"He was the one who suggested trying to locate me in the Dark Dimension," Tommy answered. "If it hadn't have been for him, I probably would still be there."

Nuala smiled faintly and sat back in her seat.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Once sure that the monster was really gone, the Rangers teleported back to the command centre, and while the other Rangers thanked Ciaran on his quick thinking and Nuala hugged her brother for being observant and helping out in any way he could, Alpha started to run a scan on Tommy to make sure that he was all right after having crossed dimensions whilst in civilian form.

"What is Alpha doing?" Kim asked, noticing the robots actions.

"He's scanning Tommy for internal damage due to crossing dimensions," Billy answered.

"You're all clear," Alpha said, as he finished.

"Thanks, Alpha," Tommy said.

"You're welcome," the robot said as he walked away.

"Man, I'm just glad I could get out of there," Tommy said.

"Hey, I remember Rita's dark dimension," Jason said. "It's a bad place."

Ciaran nodded in agreement.

"The important thing, Tommy, is that you're OK," Kim said, relieved that her friend was alive.

"Am I?" Tommy asked.

"You're alive, aren't you?" Nuala asked, taking her son from her mother. "I'd say that was a win-win."

"True," Tommy agreed. "But according to Rita my powers are going to be gone soon."

"She's just bluffing, Tommy," Trini said, reassuringly. "She's trying to scare you. Besides, how would she be able to take away your powers?"

"I'm afraid it is possible, Rangers," Zordon interrupted.

Ciaran frowned and looked up at his sister. "It is?" he asked. "I thought that once you were infused with the Ranger Powers they could never been taken away from you?"

"Theoretically that is corrected," Zordon nodded. "But the green candle is made out of special wax from the gamma-tri system. Once touched, it retains a person's body energy."

"But I never touched anything," Tommy said.

"You may have done it when you worked for Rita," Nuala said. "Back then you wouldn't have thought anything different about what she had given you."

"And she's been saving that wax for an occasion such as this," Billy said, thinking along the same lines as Nuala.

"Ew, creepy," said Kim, cringing.

Kim sighed and looked up at Zordon. "Then Tommy is right," she said. "His days as the green Ranger are numbered."

"More like hours," Trini said, absently. "It only takes a few hours for a candle to burn down."

"And once it does," said Tommy, shaking his head. "It'll all be over. The green Ranger will be history."

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 2:16am**


	24. Pure-Hearted, Part II

**Author's Note:** I tried to extend this version of Green Candle as much as I could, and I hope you all enjoy the twist. I hope you can accept my apology for the late update. I've received some more bad news recently in the form of another death in the family. My uncle passed away last night.

**Dedications: **N/A

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"How exactly does this candle work?" Lana asked, curiously. She was still at the command centre with the Rangers and could sense the increasing tension as the teens tried to figure out a way to save Tommy's disappearing powers.

"When touched the power of the candle linked itself with Tommy's DNA," Zordon explained. "As the candle continues to burn, Tommy's powers will weaken more and more. If the flame completely burns out while in Rita's possession, he will be completely stripped of them and they will pass to Rita forever."

"Rita Repulsa with the green Ranger powers?" Nuala repeated. "Talk about a Power Ranger's worst nightmare."

Jason nodded in agreement.

"Zordon, isn't there anything we can do?" Kim asked.

"Someone must journey into Rita's dark dimension and get the candle before it burns out," Zordon answered.

"So how do I get there?" Tommy asked.

"You don't," Nuala replied. "The further away from that candle you are, the more time you have with your powers. If you go to the dark dimension now that candle is just going to accelerate Rita's spell, your powers will burn out faster."

"She is correct," Zordon boomed, nodding. "Another ranger must go in your place."

"I'll go," Jason said. He wasn't volunteering, and the position wasn't up for discussion. This was his team, and he was red Ranger. He was the leader. He had to go.

But Tommy wasn't just any other Ranger, while at times he was Jason polar opposite; he was also Jason's double and would put his life on the line for his friends in a heartbeat. Turning to his leader, Tommy shook his head. "Forget it," he said. "No way."

"Look, it makes sense," Jason said. "I'm the only other person who's ever been there."

"Technically -"

"No!" Jason, Nuala and Lana said, interrupting Ciaran mid-sentence. The fourteen-year-old folded his arms and grumbled under his breath.

"I'm the only other _Ranger_ that has been there," Jason repeated, turning back to Tommy.

"It is way too dangerous," Tommy argued.

"It's your only chance, Tommy," Billy said, coming into the conversation.

But Tommy was, as per usual, stubborn. "No, there's no way I'm going to risk something happening to Jason because of me," he said.

"Billy's right, Tommy, it's your only chance," Nuala said. "If you go back to that dimension alone, you may lose more than just your powers, you could lose your life. I don't think Rita and Goldar are going to risk letting you live."

"And that's good enough a reason to let Jason go in alone?" Tommy asked.

"Look, I'm not taking sides," Nuala sighed. "But I am telling you that going there now is suicidal. That candle _alone_ could be your downfall. At the moment, Jason stands a better chance of getting it and coming back in one piece."

Tommy sighed and looked from Nuala to the other Rangers; they each nodded in agreement with the silver Ranger leaving him to feel completely helpless in their decision to let Jason go alone. In the end he turned to Jason and nodded. He knew that his friends meant well, and he could see their point of the argument, but that didn't mean he had to like it. But he knew better than to argue, especially when it was six against one.

"Zordon!" Alpha exclaimed. Ellis jumped, let out a cry of surprise and clung tightly to his mother's neck. "I found it."

"Found what?" Tommy asked, walking over to the robot.

"The molecular energy patterns left by the putties at the school," Alpha answered.

"What's he talking about?" Zack asked, looking to Trini, Billy and Nuala. They were the only three that had a chance of understanding the little robot.

Nuala hesitated and turned promptly to Billy. While she could understand what he was saying most of the time, she had no clue what Alpha had just said. "Translation, please?" she asked.

"He's found the doorway to Rita's dark dimension," Billy replied.

"The question that remains is, 'how do we get that doorway open?'" Kim said.

"I may have an idea," Billy said. "Give me a few minutes. Alpha, can you give me a hand?"

"Of course," Alpha said, following Billy away from the super computers.

While they got started, the rest of the Rangers hung around overthinking the situation. Nuala was sat in her usual place with her back up against the super computer and Ellis playing with his stuff teddy between her legs, and Tommy paced back and forth in front of her.

"I've changed my mind," Tommy said, suddenly. "I can't let you do this, Jase. Who's going to lead the Rangers if something happens to you?"

"Nothing's going to happen to me," Jason said.

"You can't be sure of that," Tommy argued. "Say something does. That candle's going to have some sort of guard, I don't think Goldar will leave it for too long, or there could be a force field, what if you get zapped? Or the doorway could close on you and trap you. The possibilities are endless."

Jason sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Tommy was starting to ramble, and he could understand his friends worry because, if the situation were reversed, he'd be exactly the same. But he couldn't let Tommy go much less than Tommy wanted him to go. Someone needed to get that candle, and he wasn't allowing any of the others to go in.

"If you're going, I'm going with you," Tommy said.

"No!" Jason said, a little more forcibly than intended. "Look, Tommy, I know you're nervous, but this is how it's going to be OK? You're one of us, man, a Power Ranger, a teammate. Neither one of us wants to see you lose your powers, and someone, other than you, has to go and get it."

"I think what Jason is trying to say, Tommy, is that if given the chance any one of us would've volunteered to go and get the candle," Nuala said, looking up from her son. "And, while we may hate doing it, and you may hate us for doing it, Jason _is_ team leader; the final decision rests with him."

Tommy sighed and looked down at Nuala. "You suck," he said, trying to sound serious but failing terribly.

"Love you too," Nuala replied, nudging him in the shoulder as he squatted down beside her.

Finally, after many roughly thirty to thirty-five minutes, Billy announced that he and Alpha were done with whatever it was they were making. Carrying the instrument back to his friends, the blue Ranger set it up by turning the dial into place.

"Ay-yi-yi! I sure hope this works, Billy," Alpha said.

"What are these things?" Kim asked.

"Molecular decoders," Billy answered. "You see, Alpha's found sources of the Putties' molecular pattern at the school, and since they teleported to Rita's dark dimension we'll be able to follow the same path."

Jason nodded and stood. "Everyone ready to teleport?" he asked.

"Yep, we're all set," Trini nodded, grabbing the second molecular decoder and following Jason away from the computers.

Nuala stood and handed Ellis over to her mother, she kissed his forehead and then hurried over to her friends. It was nearing four, and while she knew that Chris couldn't reach her son while he was at the command centre, didn't make her any less apprehensive about leaving. As if sensing her fears, Tommy caught her wrist and nodded once. Nuala smiled and nodded too.

"Thanks, Tommy," she whispered.

"It's the least I could do," Tommy replied.

"You didn't have to say anything," Nuala said, squeezing his hand. "Just know that you mean a lot to us. Some more than others," she added, smiling cheekily.

"Let's do it," Jason called from the other side of the command centre. Nuala shared one more smile with Tommy, and rejoined the rest of her friends.

"Stay in contact, Rangers," Alpha said, "and be careful."

Lana, Ciaran, Alpha and Tommy watched as brightly coloured cylinders encased the team and they disappeared from sight.

"Good luck, my friends," said Tommy.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Once at the school, Kim led her friends to the place where Goldar and the putties' captured Tommy. It was on the edge of the lake at least 5 miles away from the school's main building.

"This is it," the pink Ranger said, once they had arrived.

"Good. Let's get ready to set up the decoders," Trini said, setting the instrument she was carrying down on the ground. While Jason and Zack helped Billy and Trini, Nuala and Kim pulled back. They were both quite close to Tommy and neither one of them wanted to see him hurt.

"This is going to work, right?" Kim asked Nuala uncertainly. "I mean, you sounded confident back at the command centre."

Nuala folded her arms and looked at Kim. "I had to be," she said. "Tommy would've panicked more if he knew how nervous I really was. In all honesty, I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I do believe that Jason is our best bet right now. I do believe that if Tommy had gone alone, we wouldn't see him again."

"You have faith that this will work?" Kim asked. She needed to hear a solid answer from Nuala. If the silver Ranger believed that everything would work out, then she would too.

Nuala sighed and turned to her friend. "I know what you're after, Kim, and I want to give you what you want, but I can't," she said. "We just have to have faith that everything will work out."

"Faith? What is that like Catholic faith or something?" Kim asked.

Nuala smiled and chuckled. "Faith is faith," she replied. "It can be whatever you want it to be. But, yes, I believe in Catholic faith."

Kim paused and then added, "Are you Catholic?" She wasn't completely sure what had prompted her to ask it, but after the conversation topic had turned to faith and Catholicism, she had found herself curious of Nuala's Irish history.

"Yeah," Nuala answered. "I believe in the Catholic church, I just don't go to church... at least not anymore."

Kim frowned, she could sense that there was more to the story than Nuala was letting on, but before she could push her friend into opening up some more a familiar grunt reached them from behind. "What is that gross sound?" Kim asked, wheeling around. Nuala turned and sighed as she saw Bulk and Skull, practically crawling up the ravine towards them.

"Oh great," Nuala sighed, flagging down the others.

Finally reaching the top of the hill, Bulk and Skull collapsed into a sweaty and out of breath heap at the feet of Nuala and Kim. The two Rangers exchanged looks and retreated to the comfort zone near their friends. Recovering from the climb first, Bulk pushed himself back to his feet and pointed at the Rangers. "You geeks are in our private area," he said.

"Yeah, our private park," Skull repeated, standing up. He was still trying to catch his breath.

"Actually, fellas, this area belongs to the school," Billy said. "Therefore it's open to all students."

"Yeah, anyone but you, Brainiac," Skull said, shoving Billy into Nuala. The silver Ranger shrieked in surprise and nearly lost her footing as she tried to stablise Billy, but the blue Ranger was faster and caught her before she could hit the floor.

"Thanks," Nuala said, blushing profusely as she stepped out of Billy's arms.

"Why don't you just leave us alone," Trini said. "We've got work to do."

Bulk scoffed and turned to Skull as he nudged him. "What are those... things?" Skull asked, pointing at the molecular decoders.

"I dunno," said Bulk. "Let's find out."

"Hey, you can look but don't touch," Zack warned.

Bulk growled and pointed at the black Ranger. "Nobody tells me what to do." He clenched his hand into a fist and stormed across the path towards Zack. The black Ranger ducked aside, before stepping aside as Bulk run at him again. The big bully staggered to a halt but ended up falling head-first into a trashcan and rolling back down the ravine.

"Uh-oh," Skull said, running after him.

The Rangers laughed as they watched the trashcan crash into a tree at the bottom and Bulk slid out. He stood up, stumbling all over the place as he tried to catch his bearings.

"Ooh. He doesn't look so good," Trini said.

"I bet he doesn't feel so good either," Kim said.

"After a tumble like that," Nuala replied. "It's a wonder he is able to stand up."

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Back at the command centre, Lana was doing everything possible to calm Tommy down. He had been watching the events unfold on the viewing globe and was more apprehensive now about the outcome than ever before.

"It's just Bulk and Skull," Lana said, sitting the green Ranger down on the console. "They're more comic relief than an actual threat."

"Yeah, but what if they get caught up in all this?"

"They won't. Look, the team dealt with them," Lana said, pointing at the globe. It showed Bulk rolling down the ravine in a trashcan. "I'll admit they could've handled the situation a little better, but the boys are gone now."

"What if something goes wrong with the decoders?"

"Your faith in your friends is outstanding," Lana said, sarcastically.

"I'm just... worried," Tommy said, wringing his hands. "If anything happens to Jason in the other dimension I'll never forgive myself."

Lana sighed and touched his shoulder. "Jason is a good fighter," she said. "Trust me when I saw everything will be fine."

"What if he gets into the dimension but can't get the candle? What then?"

"Then we think of something else," Lana said. "Tommy, even if you lose your powers today, that doesn't make you any less a Power Ranger or hero."

Tommy sighed and hung his head. "But..." he started, but Lana covered his mouth with her hand.

"I don't want to hear another word," Lana said. "Your negativity is going to do nothing but make you worry. Now, think positive, trust in your friends and their abilities."

"I now see where Nuala gets her pushiness from," Tommy teased.

Lana smiled. "At least she inherited some of my personality," she said. "She's a lot more like her father than you'd believe. They're both determined mediators. Calm and soothing. Me? I'm a hot-head, protective and stubborn."

"In a good way," Ciaran added in his mother's defence. He was sitting on the step in front of the viewing globe playing with Ellis. Suddenly, as the alarms started to blare loudly, Ciaran jumped and whacked his head on the underside of the console. "Ow!" he whined, rubbing the sore spot.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi!" Alpha cried. "Red alert!"

"What's going on?" Lana asked, nervously.

"It's the alarm," Tommy explained. "Zordon, what's happened?"

"There's been an attack on a city near Angel Grove," Zordon answered. "I believe it is called Stone Canyon. Engage the viewing globe."

Lana looked around at the sphere and frowned. "Tommy, isn't that -?" she asked.

"Dragonzord in battle mode," Ciaran exclaimed, jumping up.

"But how?" Tommy asked Alpha. "All of our Zords are on standby."

"It can only be an imposter," Zordon informed them. "No doubt it's Rita's Cyclops monster posing as Dragonzord, and assuming its power."

"Shall I contact the Rangers?" Alpha asked.

"That is what Rita hopes we will do," Zordon said. "So that while the Power Rangers are occupied the green candle will burn down."

"Then let me take them on, Zordon," Tommy volunteered.

"But you will be all alone against them," Zordon said.

"Give me this chance," Tommy begged. "I can handle them."

"Very well, and let the power protect you," Zordon said, granting Tommy's wish.

Tommy nodded and reached behind him for his power coin. "It's morphin' time!" he exclaimed. "Dragonzord!"

Once morphed, Tommy teleported from the command centre. Lana hesitated and looked up at Zordon. "While I may not be as involved with the Rangers as much as my son," she said. "I do watch them on the news when there is a battle. Nuala's Zord, the Dire Wolf, is a primary arsenal for both the power Megazord and the Dragonzord, correct?"

"Yes," Zordon confirmed.

"Let Nuala join Tommy," Lana said. "She'll be more of a use to him than where she is now."

Zordon considered her proposal and then looked to his assistant. "Alpha, contact Nuala and send her to help Tommy," he ordered.

"Right away, Zordon," Alpha nodded, opening a link between the command centre and the silver Ranger.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"_Rangers,_" Zordon's voice boomed over the communicators.

"We read your, Zordon," Jason said.

"_There is a situation in Stone Canyon. The Cyclops monster has returned._" Zordon informed them.

Nuala gasped and lifted her communicator to her lips. She had recognised the name of the city to which Zordon was referring. "Did you say Stone Canyon?" she asked, her thoughts immediately switching to Adam.

"_Yes. Green Ranger has gone to intercept him, but he cannot fight alone for long,_" Zordon said.

"What are we going to do?" Kim asked, nervously. "Jason?"

"We need that candle," Jason said.

"We could always split up," Trini suggested.

"That's not exactly evening the odds," Nuala pointed out. "Four out of six of us would be staying here," she said, pointing at the four rangers that would be left behind. They needed Billy to continue checking the portal doorway, while Zack and Trini were needed to stabilize the decoders and with Jason going through the dark dimension that left her and Kim.

"Not to mention if something goes wrong either way," Kim added. "Our power will be divided."

"Zordon, any suggestions on what to do?" Jason asked.

"_It has been discussed that since Nuala provides additional arsenal to each Megazord, she'd be a more valuable asset to Tommy at this point,_" Zordon explained.

Nuala looked up at her friends, and then down at her communicator. "I'm on my way," she confirmed.

"Nuala, be careful," Jason warned.

"I promise," Nuala said, reaching behind her for her power coin. "It's morphin' time - Dire Wolf!"

Once morphed, Nuala wished her friends luck and disappeared in a cylinder of silver. As she left the other Rangers exchanged looks. They each knew that with their defenses now torn in two separate directions, the stakes were even higher and they had to act quickly.

"I'm ready," Jason said, catching his friend's attention. "Close the portal once I'm through."

"Hey, Jason," Zack called. He hesitated, unsure of how to proceed, before nodding and settling on something safe. "Good luck."

"Thanks, bro," Jason replied. "I'll need it." With a deep breath he walked forward, and disappeared through the swirling blue doorway.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Tommy groaned and slumped forward in his seat. The Cyclops had totaled most of his Zord, and was now trashing him while the Dragonzord struggled to regain enough energy to continue fighting. If he didn't get up soon, then Tommy knew he might as well have returned to the command centre and watched the destruction take place from there.

Raising his foot and swinging it at the Dragonzord, the imposter Power Megazord gasped and was knocked off balance as something collided with him. He hit the ground with an earth shattering thud and looked up to see a silver wolf standing, protectively in front of the Dragonzord.

"Back off, Cyclops!" Nuala shouted, activating her defense mechanisms. "I wonder how giants deal with the cold - Ice breath!" she pushed forward on her controls and fired a stream of frozen air at the monster.

The imposter Megazord froze and then returned to its normal monster state. The Cyclops roared and stormed towards Nuala, brandishing its arms like a weapon.

"Giants are slow too," Nuala said, turning her controls wildly around and sliding out of reach. "Come on, one-eye, over here!"

With Nuala keeping the Cyclops busy, Tommy found that the Dragonzord had recovered enough to force itself to its feet. He roared and the Cyclops turned its attention to him. Summoning his staff, Tommy swung at the Cyclops, but was deflected and hit again in the chest.

The Dragonzord crashed into a nearby building, shattering it under the force if impact.

"Tommy!" Nuala shouted. She tried to reach him, but was knocked aside by a surprise attack on the Cyclops's part. Her Dire Wolf whined as it was knocked from its feet and came to a halt in front of another already destroyed building. "Oh, that didn't go as planned," she groaned, bracing herself as the Cyclops stomped down on her.

As sparks flew from the dire wolf, Tommy forced the Dragonzord back to its feet, despite the energy levels being critically low and he himself starting to feel the effects of the green candle. "Hey, over here!" he shouted, flagging the Cyclops down. The giant turned in his direction and bowled into him.

Shaking her head, Nuala looked up to see Tommy taking a beaten. She knew how bad Rita wanted Tommy's powers, and if push came to shove then Nuala would be happy for her to take them, but there was no way she was letting Rita take Tommy's life too.

Activating her Zords primary assault system, Nuala pawed at the ground behind the Cyclops and bared the teeth of her Zord. The Dire Wolf snarled and snapped at the Cyclops, before charging forward and pouncing onto its unexpected prey.

The Cyclops roared as it hit the ground; the dire wolf then locked its weapon system onto the weakest point on the Cyclops body and opened fire. There was a bright explosion and Tommy, who was watching from the Dragonzord feared for Nuala's life.

As the explosion died down, a howl escaped into the air and the Dire Wolf walked proudly back towards Tommy. The green Ranger sighed in relief and chuckled lightly as Nuala's Zord nudged his own with her head. She whimpered, unable to sense any life from the Dragonzord.

"Tommy?" Nuala questioned. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you, Nuala," Tommy replied. "Loud and clear."

"Good. Let's get out of here."

"Meet you back at the command centre," Tommy said. Nuala nodded and bounded off in the direction of the command centre, leaving Tommy to activate the teleportation system on his Zord. With little energy there was no way he'd make it on foot.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

By the time the other Rangers returned from the school, Nuala and Tommy were well aware that they had failed. So when they did arrive both green and silver Rangers smiled sympathetically at their attempts to save Tommy's powers.

"Tommy, I'm sorry," Jason said, reaching for his friend.

"It's OK," Tommy said. "You did your best."

"I feel like I failed you."

Tommy sighed and looked to Nuala, the silver Ranger shrugged and turned to Jason. She and Tommy had already discussed the idea of Jason feeling guilty about failing to get the candle, they both understood the consequences of his failure, but like with anything at least he had tried.

"It could've been worse," Nuala said.

"How could it have been any worse?" Jason asked.

"You could've said no," Nuala pointed out. "This whole mission was dangerous from stage one. It doesn't matter on who went through, there was a fifty/fifty chance on getting that candle. Even though the outcome wasn't what we all had hoped, we can't deny that you didn't try."

"But now Tommy is going to lose his powers to Rita," Kim said.

"Not necessarily," Nuala said, shaking her head. "Zordon says there is a way to stop Rita from getting the green Ranger powers."

Kim and the others exchanged looks, as Tommy hung his head. Zordon had already explained the last possible outcome for him, and it all rested on his decision. He needed to decide on a reliable candidate to take on his ranger powers and prevent Rita from ever using them for evil again.

"How?" Billy asked, intrigued.

"By transferring the green Ranger powers to one of us," Nuala explained. "In other words he has to give up his power coin."

"No way," Kim said, shaking her head. "No. He can't just give up."

"I have asked Tommy to select a suitable candidate to receive his power coin," Zordon said. "No one can force his decision for it must his alone. Tommy, have you decided?"

"Doesn't he get a say in this?" Kim asked.

"This is the only way, Kim," Tommy said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I have chosen, Zordon." He turned to his friends and reached behind him for his power coin, he held it in the palm of his hand and then sighed. "I guess this is it. It was fun while it lasted."

Nuala frowned and touched his arm. "Hey, you may not have the ability to morph," she said, "but that doesn't make you any less a Power Ranger. You'll always be one of us."

"Thanks, Nuala," Tommy said, taking her hand and pressing his power coin into the palm. "Take good care of this for me, OK?"

Nuala stared, slack-jawed at her hand and then up at Tommy. "Wait, you chose me?" she asked. "But I thought -?" she pointed at Jason, who seemed just as surprised at the turn of events as Nuala.

"Jason's a good Ranger and a good friend," Tommy said, "But I know that my powers will be safe with you."

"How do you know?" Nuala said, shaking her head.

"Because the only way Rita will get these powers from you, is if she converts you to her cause," Tommy explained. "But I know that'll never happen because you can't convert the pure-hearted. So, what do you say?"

"You're powers are safe with me," Nuala swore. She looked down at the green power coin and watched as he flashed from green to silver, and she felt a powerful burst of energy wash over her. But as Nuala staggered, trying to stablise herself as the green Ranger's powers fused with her own, Tommy collapsed into the arms of his friends.

With the help of his friends, Tommy braced himself against the console and looked up at Zordon. "It's over, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Zordon confirmed.

"And Rita?"

"With the coin in Nuala's hands the power is protected."

"I feel strange inside," Tommy said, looking down at his hands. They were alternating between green and normal.

"Your body is morphing back to its normal state," Zordon explained.

"This is weird," Tommy groaned.

"You are a strong and courageous fighter, Green Ranger, and an honorable man," Zordon praised.

A green light exploded from Tommy's chest and illuminated the whole command centre, and then disappeared. Tommy slumped forward and groggily looked up at his friends. "I'm OK," he promised them. "Zordon, I just wanted to say that it was great being a Ranger, you'll always be with me."

"I'm sorry, Tommy," Jason apologized again. "We tried to get the candle."

"Hey, no worries," Tommy said. "At least this way, my powers can still be used for good. Use them to defeat Rita."

"Count on it," Jason promised, glancing at Nuala. The silver Ranger nodded in agreement.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 23:16pm**


	25. Reflecting Theories

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, this episode was a bit of a nightmare to write, given the two sets of Rangers. But I hope I have cleared it up a bit. The evil-Puttie Rangers have been relabeled 'Puttie!(insert name here)" for example: "Puttie!Nuala" simply to ease confusion. I would've updated this on Monday, but I had to be in bed earlier because I had a 5am wake up call for graduation on Tuesday - I did it guys, three years of Uni and I received my degree on Tuesday. I'm so proud!

**Special Shout Out: **Guys, I am overwhelmed right now. On June 18th, 2014, I posted chapter fifteen of this story and reached the milestone of 100 reviews. Then on July 12, 2014, exactly **nine** chapters later, I posted chapter twenty-four and am pleased to admit that this story reached its second milestone of **200 reviews** (_and counting_). I want to thank each and every one of you for making that possible, and would like to give a special shout out to my 200th review - _**Brankel1**_ - thank you so much, everybody, keep the reviews coming. I love hearing from each of you.

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

The moon palace was a place of the purest evil. It was part of the reason Rita loved it so much. At first glance she hadn't thought that she would, but over time she had come to enjoy her little home. It had a perfect view of the planet in which she wished to conquer, and her minions weren't half bad - although they seemed to fail many times when it came to dealing with a bunch of misfit teenagers.

"Those Power Rangers think they're so tough," Rita screamed as she paced back and forth in front of the balcony overlooking the plant Earth. "Well, the twin man's a whole lot tougher than they are."

"Scorpina will command this mission," Goldar advised his empress, "and with the help of the twin man's powers they shall pulverize those power brats once and for all."

"We got our work cut out for us, haven't we?" Baboo said, turning to Squatt.

"The twin man will transform you into exact duplicates of the Power Rangers," Rita said to the five Putties before her. "Once you're on Earth you'll do you best to do your worst to make them look bad and ruin their reputations, and then you'll slice them and dice them!"

The Putties garbled in their excitement before being taken to Earth by Rita's newest monster. A bright red ball of flaming energy collided with the Earth and transformed into a small group of teenagers in the middle of the park.

A red-headed puttie stepped out of the group and rolled her head around, cracking the muscles and relieving the tension in her neck. "Ooh. This body is so... achy," she whined. "What does that silver Ranger do to get like this."

"Silence!" a dark-haired puttie snapped. "We have our orders." He lowered his sunglasses and his eyes flashed red. "Let's go."

The black Ranger puttie laughed and stepped around the yellow Ranger puttie. He grabbed the red-head and pulled her off down the path. The others followed them away from the park and towards the school.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Skull frowned and glanced back at Bulk as he grabbed his jacket and pulled him backwards. "What?" he asked, noticing the confused look on his best friends face.

Bulk nodded across the hall to where the usual goodie-goods were tampering with a water fountain. They watched as Puttie!Jason and Puttie!Billy dug the grooves of their tools under the tap and lifted it up, revealing the water container and pressure pump underneath. Puttie!Nuala then emptied an entire box of washing powder into the water, and Puttie!Zack replaced the lid, securing it so it looked like nothing had happened.

During this time Skull had approached Puttie!Kimberly, as she leaned against the wall and filed her nails. "Hey babe, want to catch the submarine races tonight?" he asked, sharing an amused chuckle with Bulk. Turning back to Puttie!Kim, he stepped back in alarm as he saw just how close she'd actually gotten, close enough to the point where he was almost kissing her.

"Sure, sweet lips," Puttie!Kim replied. "Give me a call."

"Huh?" Bulk asked confused as to what the hell was going on with the goodie-goods. Why were they acting like... bullies, for the lack of a better word.

"Hey, look," Skull said, pointing at Puttie!Billy as one of his geek friends came onto him. The kid hadn't actually done anything remotely wrong to receive the backlash that Puttie!Billy had unleashed on him, but the boy in blue slammed him against the lockers and then shoved him to the floor.

As Puttie!Jason snapped his fingers and walked away from the drinking found, Puttie!Nuala reached for Puttie!Billy's hand and pulled him away from the geek that was staring at him in terror. The two close friends walked away, leaving Bulk and Skull to stare after them. They had seen how close 'new girl' Nuala had become with Puttie!Billy the Geek, but they hadn't taken into account just _how_ close they actually where.

Bracing herself against the wall at the end of the corridor, Puttie!Nuala watched Mr. Caplan approached the rigged out water fountain. A sly grin slid onto her face as he turned the dial and a spray of white foam shot into the air. It covered him from head to toe, and also littered the ground. Caplan groaned as his feet slipped from underneath him and he landed with a thud on his back.

Above the lockers the school bell rang, signaling the end of second period. Students flowed out of their classrooms and crowded around the foam swamp, laughing hysterically at a flailing Caplan as he tried to regain his footing.

Rolling over onto his side, Caplan looked around for the culprits and spotted those responsible. They smirked in amusement at his annoyance and frustration.

"Gotcha!" Puttie!Trini said, laughing.

"Detention!" Caplan shouted, pointing at each of them.

"We really cleaned up," Puttie!Zack said, walking backwards as he and the others left the school, just as their good-Ranger counterparts entered from the hallway parallel to their own.

Nuala laughed as Jason set her back on her feet inside the school hallway. They'd been teasing one another over which was the strongest sex - Male or Female - when the red Ranger had caught her around the waist and hauled her over his shoulder.

But their fun and laughter died when they saw the chaos that was ensuring in front of their lockers.

Quickly running forward, Jason turned off the fountain, ending the foam stream, whilst Billy knelt down at the side of the foam swamp and held his hand out to the principal.

"Mr. Caplan, can we give you a hand?" Billy asked, genuinely concerned.

"You six, detention now," Caplan said, pointing at each of the Rangers in turn.

"What?" Nuala and Kim asked.

"Yes," Caplan hissed. "Mr. Archer, off to class," he added to Ciaran, who was looking at Nuala with intense curiosity.

"Yes, sir," Ciaran said, hurrying away from his sister. He disappeared around the corner and stopped short. What was going on? Why had his sister and the others been given detention? They hadn't done anything to receive a punishment, unless helping out was punishable now?

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Meanwhile, in the detention hall, Nuala slouched in her seat and glanced apprehensively at her watch. She'd never had detention before, not even when she had been living in Dublin. Granted she hadn't been a perfect angel whilst at school, but she'd never done anything that was worthy enough of detention.

The door opened and Mr. Caplan walked in. He was brushing off the foam that had come out of the water fountain from his suit, as some slithered down his face from his hair. If the situation had been any different, Nuala probably would've giggled.

"Now, you all know why you're here," Mr. Caplan said, addressing the students in front of him. Two out of six of them had been therefore more times than they could count, but Nuala and her friends were nowhere near as delinquent as Bulk and Skull usually were.

To emphasis his boredom, Skull blew a raspberry and looked, mocking surprised, in Nuala's direction. The red head rolled her eyes at him and sighed heavily.

"Your drinking fountain prank was the height of delinquency," Caplan continued, pointing at each Ranger in turn.

"But Mr. Caplan..." Jason started. Now that he and the others knew what they were being punished for, they had a small chance of defending themselves.

But Caplan wasn't interested in excuses.

"Silence!" he shouted at Jason. "Now, you're to remain in your seats for the duration of the day. I have a meeting to attend..." he was in the middle of checking his watch when Bulk called from his seat.

"Hey, Mr. Caplan - go to your meeting. I know the routine. I'll fill them in on the rest," Bulk said. Skull nodding in agreement.

"All right, but I'll be back to check on your shortly," Caplan said, leaving the room. As the door closed with a snap behind him, Skull punched his desk and jumped up onto his seat, he knelt on the desk and leaned closer to Kim.

Meanwhile, Bulk stood from his own desk and towered over Jason. "Hey, you, get out of my chair," he said.

"Do I see your name written on it?" Jason asked, bored already.

"Yeah, right there," Bulk said, sliding Jason's folder aside. "See? B-U-U-L-K."

"It's not even spelled right," Trini said.

Bulk shot her an annoyed look, and sat down as Jason moved to the desk beside Nuala.

"So, we still on for tonight?" Skull asked, startling Kim as he all-but yelled in her ear.

"Urgh. Get real, eel," Kim scoffed, pulling a book from her backpack.

"I wonder what mom made me for detention today," Bulk said, opening his lunch box. He moved it to the shelf beside him and started to remove an assortment of foods from inside.

Nuala exchanged a look of disbelief with Trini as both wondered how the hell Bulk managed to fit his entire lunch, including a full pineapple, a bottle of ketchup and mustard into the small container. Once everything had been set on the desk - many things rolling off onto the floor - Bulk started on his first sandwich.

Skull hovered over his shoulder.

"Quit staring," Bulk snapped at his friend. "Your ugly mug is making me lose my appetite."

"Oh, come on, Bulky," Skull begged. "Give me a little piece, please."

Bulk hesitated and then, slowly, handed Skull his can of soda.

"Something's not right, guys," Jason said, as Bulk dug into his lunch.

"Yeah. What is going on?" Trini asked, playing with her pencil.

"Skull thinks he has a date with Kimberly," Zack pointed out. He even looked disgusted at the whole idea.

"Not even Skull's that mentally deficient," Billy said, glancing over his shoulder at the bully.

"Are you sure about that?" Nuala asked, watching as Skull opened his soda can and sprayed himself in the process. Kim laughed loudly, and resulted in Skull chasing her around her desk with his can.

Kim panicked and ducked aside, leaving Skull to spray Bulk instead. Skull's eyes widened as he realized his mistake and tried to talk Bulk out of retaliating.

"Shut up, Moonbrain!" Bulk yelled, tossing a pie at his best friend and hitting him square in the face.

"Gee, Bulk, this is better than mom makes," Skull said, scooping cream from the pie into his mouth. "Thanks for sharing."

Bulk spat at Skull, and returned to his lunch.

"Ah, man, do we have to put up with this all afternoon?" Zack asked causing his friends to sigh and slouch in their seats.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After watching Bulk and Skull's display of childish banter, the Rangers distracted themselves with the only thing they could - schoolwork. Nuala swapped seats with Zack so that Billy could help her with her Math's work, while Trini and Kim worked on English.

Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull had taken to watching a cartoon on the TV screen that Bulk had brought with him. It seemed that they were in detention quite often that they had developed a 'Detention Survival Kit' to get them through the long hours.

"Are you OK?" Billy asked as Nuala sighed one more time.

"Yeah. I just can concentrate with them laughing so loud," Nuala replied. She glanced across Billy at Bulk and Skull, but neither of them felt brave enough to ask to the two bullies to quieten down. "You'd think I'd have mastered concentration, what with being a mother and all, but not even Ellis is this loud. Normally when the TV is on, he's as quiet as mouse."

"We can always pick this up later," Billy suggested. "I could come around to yours, or you could come over to mine."

Nuala smiled and nodded. "It would be easier," she agreed.

"Later then," Billy said.

"OK."

Behind them, Trini and Kim exchanged looks and grins. Both they and Jason and Zack could see the ever growing relationship between Billy and Nuala, even a blind man could see it, but both the blue and silver Rangers were too nervous and scared of rejection to admit their growing feelings. Billy's never had a girlfriend, and therefore didn't know how to ask Nuala out, and Nuala had already been hurt physically, emotionally and mentally in the past that her trust in guys had run short.

"_We interrupt this program for a special report,_" a newscaster said as Bulk and Skull's cartoon disappeared and was replaced with a blue screen. "_The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers who once fought on the side of justice as the defenders of our planet, have now joined with the forces of evil._"

"Say what?" Zack asked.

"That's bogus," Jason said, shaking his head. "We - I mean, the Power Rangers would never join the forces of evil."

"_This tragic turn of events began as the Power Rangers staged a terrifying attack on downtown Angel Grove just moments ago._"

"I can't believe my eyes," Kim said, as she watched the screen.

"Or my ears," Trini added, unable to fathom what she was hearing.

"_This attack was totally unprovoked and took the city by surprise._"

"But that's impossible," Billy said, looking back at Jason.

"Man, the Power Rangers are being framed," Jason said, and his friends couldn't agree more.

"_Today, the Power Rangers are behaving like the hoodlums they once put out of business. It is indeed a dark day for Angel Grove... and the entire world._"

"All right!" Bulk and Skull exclaimed, earning dark looks from the others.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

It was lunch time.

Normally Ciaran had lunch with Nuala and the others, but today his sister had been stuck in detention for the duration of the afternoon. He wouldn't see her until at least 3:00pm. He knew that he had other friends, friends that he had been neglecting for a while now, but he didn't feel up to spending an hour with them. Instead he decided to leave campus and head home. In Dublin, his mother would often pick him and Nuala up from school and take them out to lunch, plus he could warn her about Nuala's unnecessary punishment from Caplan. He knew that neither Nuala nor the others had deserved detention for a prank that they had nothing to do with; but no one would ever believe him - especially not an adult in a position of power.

Running the three blocks from Angel Grove High School, to the surban home that he shared with his mother, sister and nephew, Ciaran was out of breath by the time he reached the gate. He collapsed against the iron structure and it swung open under his weight. He groaned and fell onto the path, pushing himself to his feet as the front door opened and his mother stepped outside. She was carrying Ellis on her hip, her keys jingled in her hand, and there was a worried expression on her face. She was muttering to herself, but Ciaran was too tired to notice what she was saying.

"Mum..." Ciaran gasped.

Lana Archer jumped and looked down, almost amused and pitifully at her son. "Ciaran," she said, rushing over to him. She grabbed his arm and helped him stand, as best she could, and then looked questionable. "What are you doing here?"

"Water..." Ciaran said, as his chest tightened. He grabbed his backpack from his shoulder, ripped it open and rifled through the contents in search for his asthma pump. He had been diagnosed at the age of five, and would often use his inhaler after long journeys. While living on a farm, and running around after the animals all day, meant that there had once been a time where he didn't need his inhaler, while his asthma never disappeared it did however get easier to handle. But he hadn't trained or run around for a long time, which meant that his asthma was back with a vengeance.

Helping her son into the house, Lana sat him in the living room with Ellis and rushed to get him a glass of water from the kitchen. She made sure that it wasn't ice cold before giving it to her son to sip on. While he did that Lana sat opposite him and waited for him to answer her question from outside. She raised her eyebrows questionably with each sip of water Ciaran took.

After a while, Ciaran sighed and realised he couldn't hold off any longer. He set his glass down and looked up at his mum. "Before you freak out," he said. "I want you to know that Nuala had nothing to do with what Caplan has punished her for."

"Punished?" Lana repeated.

"There was an incident at school," Ciaran said, "and Caplan seems to think that Nuala and the others were responsible. He's given them detention."

"Detention?"

Ciaran nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Why are you repeating everything I say?"

"Because Nuala and the others can't have detention," Lana said.

"Mum, I swear to you, I am not lying."

"But that's impossible!"

"Why? How?"

Lana reached for the TV remote and pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life and a news report, covering an attack on downtown Angel Grove popped up.

"_We're back with love coverage of the current crisis in downtown Angel Grove,_" the newscaster said. "_The magnitude of this crisis is increasing as is the amount of destruction which, at this point is impossible to estimate. All efforts to stop the Power Rangers have failed and the city, perhaps the world, is at their mercy."_

"This has got to be one of Rita's most evil plans ever," Ciaran said, sharing a look with his mother. "We have to get the rangers out of detention."

"How are we going to do that?" Lana asked. "I could try and get Nuala out but I have no authority over the others."

"You can get Nuala out?" Ciaran asked. "How?"

"I am her mother, Ciaran, I have authority over her," Lana said. "Besides, a little white lie couldn't hurt anyone. I'll call the school, tell them that there is a problem with Ellis and he needs to go to the doctors. I'm not listed as his mother or guardian, therefore Nuala would need to be present."

Ciaran grinned and quickly grabbed the cordless phone from the side. He tossed it to his mother and said, "do it, quickly!" as the attack on downtown Angel Grove continued.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"What are we going to do?" Trini asked, worriedly. The ultimation of Power Rangers attacking downtown, while she and her friends were in detention, had hit her hard. It was obvious that Rita was up to her wicked ways ago, but without a proper reason to get out of detention things weren't looking so good.

"We could just morph," Zack suggested.

"No. We can't reveal our identities to Bulk and Skull," Jason said, looking over at the two bullies. They were so enthralled by the idea of the Rangers working for evil that they weren't paying attention to anything else.

"Hey, guys, Caplan just took off," Kim called from the door. She had been watching Caplan and waiting for the perfect opportunity to sneak out. "Now's our chance." She checked again, making sure that the coast was indeed clear, and then left the room.

"Let's follow her," Jason said, making his way towards the door. He stopped short as Bulk called out to him.

"I wouldn't. She'll be back."

"Three, Two, One," Skull said, counting back. As soon as he reached 'one', the door opened and both Caplan and Kim stepped back inside.

"And stay in," Caplan ordered Kim. He straightened his tie and looked directly at Nuala. "Miss Archer, we've just received a phone call from your mother. There seems to be a situation at home, and you're needed."

"Did she say what kind of situation?" Nuala asked, feeling her heart rise into her throat. There was only one reason why her mother would call her out of school earlier, and that reason was Ellis.

"Your son is running a temperature of 102," Caplan answered.

"102?!" Nuala repeated, almost hysterically. She quickly grabbed her backpack and left the room. Her friends exchanged looks, they were frightful but also hopeful that this was a lie - albeit a cruel lie on Nuala's part. Maybe Ciaran had worked out that the Rangers attacking downtown were impersonators, and had informed Lana, who, in turn, had used a ruse to get Nuala out early. It was cruel to use Ellis as a prop, but if it got one Ranger on the outside then it may have just worked.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Unlike her brother, Nuala was fit and didn't have asthma, so running home was no problem for her. She reached her street with seconds to spare and crashed through the front door and into the living to find her mother and brother watching the news, while her son slept peacefully on the sofa.

"What's going on?" Nuala demanded, almost angry. She checked her son's forehead to find that he felt cool, and he didn't look sick in anyway. But why would her mother lie about something like this? Lana knew how protected Nuala was of Ellis, so why would she want to cause her daughter to worry?

"We're sorry," Lana apologized. "But it was the only way."

"One way to do what?" Nuala asked. "Give me a heart attack."

"Get you out of detention," Ciaran said, jumping up. He pointed at the TV. "Look, Rita's at it again. You have to save time and try and stop them."

"I can't fight them alone," Nuala said.

"You have to try!" Ciaran protested. "They're going to destroy everything if you don't."

"They'll destroy me if I do," Nuala argued. "I'm just one. I'm not strong enough to take on six rangers alone. Besides, if they are Rita's evil creation you can guarantee that Goldar or Scorpina are pulling the strings."

Ciaran sighed and run a hand through his hair. "Nuala, think of the hundreds of innocents that are being hurt," he begged. "You should be thankful we're at home. Mum was supposed to go out today, she and Ellis could've become caught in the middle of all that. They were on their way out when I got home!"

"You were?" Nuala asked, turning to her mother. "Why?"

"I was coming to get Ciaran. I thought you'd turn to the dark side, I wanted him to go to Zordon and explain everything," Lana said.

"You really think I'd turn evil?" Nuala asked.

"No, but the evidence was against you," Lana said. "I didn't know you'd been given detention."

"I didn't do anything!" Nuala protested.

"I know," Lana said, calmly.

Ciaran suddenly gasped and reached into his sister's pocket. "Use this," he said, pulling out the green power coin. "Tommy gave it to you. It has his powers in it. He had a gold shield, remember? It protected him. Use it against the phony Rangers."

Nuala looked at the green Power Coin. Tommy had entrusted it to her and made her promise to use it and the dragon dagger against Rita. The dragon shield should've protected her against most damage.

"Alright," she hesitated, taking the coin. "I'll do my best. But if I die... I'm coming back to haunt you."

"Fine. Whatever," Ciaran said. He wasn't afraid of ghosts or anything scary, and actually thrived on horror movies. He was totally opposite to his sister on one front, and then totally the same on another. It's what made them so close.

Nuala sighed and reached behind her for her power coin. "It's morphin' time!" she called. "Dire Wolf!"

There was a flash of silver and Nuala teleported out. Ciaran and Lana turned back to the TV just as a silver Ranger appeared in front of her evil counterpart. She deflected a laser beam using her dire spear, and slammed the hilt into the ground as the other evil Ranger's gathered around.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"_The reign of evil ends here!_" Nuala said.

Jason, Billy and the others jumped at the sound of a familiar voice coming from the TV. They crowded around to see Nuala, fully morphed, standing in front of Rita's evil rangers. They couldn't help but feel elated at the prospect of having one of their own front and centre, but also at the idea that Ellis Archer was indeed fine and well.

"Where'd she come from?" Bulk frowned, pointing at the new Power Ranger. "There are two silver Rangers?"

"There can't be," Skull said. "One's got to be a fake."

"Now they realise," Kim complained.

"But where are the other Rangers?" Skull asked. "They're cutting it a fit fine, don't you think? They can't expect the silver ranger to fight by herself, do they?"

"I dunno, Skull," Bulk said. "Maybe the silver Ranger's gone rogue?"

Trini and Billy rolled their eyes, and looked around at Jason. They had to get out there and help Nuala. But the only way to do that was to morph, and they couldn't reveal their identities to Bulk and Skull without risking the loss of their Ranger powers.

"Hold up," said Zack. "I have an idea. Hey, Skull, you want to see a magic trick?" he asked the two bullies.

"Sure," Skull said, excitedly.

"Yeah, geek, show us something we haven't seen," Bulk said, bored already.

"You mean, like the alphabet?" Kim asked.

Bulk and Skull shot her dark looks, whilst her friends laughed at her retort.

"Alright, alright, check this out," Zack said, pointing at himself and his friends. "I can make us disappear."

"No way," Skull said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yes way," Zack grinned. "All right, but first cover your eyes."

Catching on to Zack's idea, Jason grinned. "And count backwards from ten," he said.

Exchanging looks, Bulk and Skull wrapped bandana's around their eyes, blocking out everything and everything.

"First plug your ears," Trini told them, "and _then_ count backwards."

Bulk and Skull followed their commands and plugged their ears with their fingers. They then started to count loudly.

"It's morphin' time!" Jason said, reaching behind him for his power coin. The others followed suit.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"Whoa!" Nuala cried out as she was thrown through the air. As expected Scorpina had arrived on scene as soon as Nuala had shown up, the two had fought back and forth for a few minutes before the silver Ranger was overwhelmed by those impersonating her friends. She wasn't completely sure who was behind the mask, but she knew it couldn't have been good if they were fighting against her.

"It's over, Silver Ranger," Scorpina laughed raising her sword above her head. "You're finished."

"Guess again, Scorpina!" Jason shouted as he blasted the sword out of the villainess's hands.

Nuala sighed in relief and stood up as her friends joined her. Scorpina and her band of evil Rangers took a step backwards in surprise, as their goodie counterparts squared off against them. "Am I glad to see you guys," she said, looking around at each of them.

"You don't stand a chance," the evil red Ranger said, summoning his own version of the power sword.

"We'll take our chances," Jason said.

"Oh, yeah? You want to bet?" Scorpina asked. "You've always been a weakling, haven't you, Nuala? Even with your tricked our ranger powers you can't stand and fight your own battles, always hiding behind your friends."

Nuala frowned behind her helmet. While she may not have fought any physical battles until she became a Ranger, she still fought an internal battle every day. Ever since her ordeal with Chris, she'd been fighting a never-ending battle of confidence and reasoning. Part of her felt to blame for Chris's attack, while another part of her knew it wasn't her fault. She just happened to be in the right place but at the wrong time.

"What would you know about my battles, Scorpina?" Nuala asked. She wasn't sure why she had, but somehow felt like she had too.

"You'll find out soon enough, _precious_," Scorpina laughed.

Nuala felt her hand tighten around her dire spear. There was only one person on the whole planet that ever called her 'precious' - two if you included the time where the nickname _didn't_ make her skin crawl - and that had been Chris Anderson. But how did Scorpina know it?

"Get 'em!" Scorpina ordered. "But go easy on the silver Ranger. We want her alive."

The evil silver Ranger nodded, and rushed at her counterpart. She jabbed at Nuala with her dire spear, but Nuala blocked and aimed the hilt of the spear at her counterpart's feet. The evil ranger jumped over the pole and counteracted with the same attack. Nuala jumped and planted a double kick into her counterpart's chest. She may have been partially distracted before, but she figured she could work out how Scorpina knew the nickname Chris had given her later, after the battle.

"Nuala, look out!" Jason shouted. He grabbed his friend around the waist and pulled her aside, covering her with his body as they rolled across the ground.

Scorpina growled and jumped down from her advantage. She had attempted to sneak up on Nuala from behind, to try and injure her and make it easier for her silver counterpart to disarm her. Once she was disarmed they could take her back to the moon palace without any problems.

Jumping to their feet, both Nuala and Jason faced off against their evil counterparts and Scorpina.

"Think now would be a good time to call upon Tommy's powers?" Jason asked Nuala.

"Right!" Nuala nodded. "I summon the power of the dragon shield." There was a bright flash and the golden plates that usually adorned Tommy's shoulders and chests, now covered Nuala's, whilst the dragon dagger appeared on her hip.

Taken by surprise, both the red and silver evil Rangers took hesitant steps backwards. They hadn't been expecting this when they agreed to be Rangers for the day.

"How's this for tricked out Ranger powers?" Nuala asked, summoning her dire spear and grasping the dragon dagger in her hands. She jumped at her counterpart and matched her blow-for-blow with the dire spear, before tripping her up. The silver counterpart grunted and hit the ground, before Nuala struck her chest with the tip of the dragon dagger.

The counterpart flashed silver, and returned to her normal state as a grey puttie.

"Not so fast, Scorpina!" Nuala shouted as the golden-plated woman tried to escape. Nuala chased after her, whilst Jason dealt with his own counterpart.

"Haha. We'll meet again, silver Ranger," Scorpina laughed. "Next time you won't be so lucky!"

She disappeared, and Nuala skidded to a halt near the waterfront. "Great," she muttered. She'd missed out on her chance to get answers. Answers to questions that Scorpina had planted inside Nuala's head after revealing some information that could either make or break the silver Ranger.

Meanwhile, as Nuala tried to figure out how Scorpina knew about her 'nickname', the others had dealt with their own counter problems, and regrouped with the citizens of Angel Grove, all of whom were thankful to have the _real_ Power Rangers back. Children skipped over to their heroes and thanked them for saving them, while adults shook their hands and congratulated them on another job well done.

As an older woman shook his hand, Billy noticed Nuala standing near the waterfront. She was out of sight of the citizen's and had powered down, but she still had her back to everything that was going on behind her. The wind blew and swept her hair across her face, obstructing her face from his view but he could tell from the way she held herself that something was wrong. Apologizing to the citizens near him, Billy made his way through the ever-growing throng of innocents and disappeared around the corner, he powered down and made his way over to Nuala.

"Hey," he asked, touching the small of her back.

Nuala jumped and flinched away. Billy dropped his hand, but still looked hurt. Nuala had never flinched away from him before.

"Oh, Billy, it's you," Nuala said.

"Yeah. Are you OK?"

Nuala shook her head and reached for his hand. She wasn't oblivious to the hurt look on his face, and felt guilty that she had jumped and flinched at his appearance. She hadn't meant to do it, but she had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't been expecting him.

"What's wrong?" Billy asked.

"I figured it out," Nuala said.

"Figured what out?"

"Scorpina called me 'precious'," Nuala said. "There is only two other people that have ever called me by that name. One of them is dead."

Billy looked confused, and shook his head. "Nuala, I -" he started.

"My father," Nuala said. "Richard Archer. He was the first ever person to call me 'Precious', and then Chris came alone. He overheard my father calling me 'precious' one day, and then he started to call me it. At first I thought it was cute, I mean, I wasn't foreign to nicknames, but just like everything else Chris managed to turn the name 'precious' into my living nightmare. Even now it makes my skin crawl."

"What does this have to do with Scorpina?" Billy asked.

Nuala licked her lips and turned back to the water. "I was wondering why I hadn't seen Chris since the incident at the school," she said. "I'm pretty sure he made his appearance at the house, and when he realized I wasn't there lost his temper. There wasn't any damage done at home, but that's probably because out here I'm not as sheltered as I was back in Ireland, people are always watching out here. But Chris seems to have disappeared."

"Shouldn't that you be happy about that?"

"Any normal girl in a situation like mine would be," Nuala nodded. "But it's not like Chris to just give up and disappear. Do remember that he practically stalked me for two years before taking what he wanted. I met him when I was fourteen and he didn't attack me until I was sixteen. Chris is a charmer, albeit a dangerous one, but he'd never give up and just leave. Not without finishing what he set out to do."

"If he hasn't finished," said Billy, "where is he?"

"Where do you think?" Nuala asked. "Scorpina _must_ have met Chris in order to get my pet name out of him. There is no way she could've just guessed that at random."

"You think Chris is on the moon?"

Nuala nodded, and Billy could see terror reflecting in her green eyes as she turned to face him. "I'm scared, Billy," she whispered. "What do they want with him? Or, more importantly, what are they going to do to him?""

"I dunno, Nuala," Billy answered, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders. He could feel her shaking as she twisted her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulder. She was genuinely worried about Chris, not because she cared about him, but mostly because she was afraid that he would tell Rita everything about her, or Rita would turn him into a warrior like she had done Tommy.

If Chris did become a servant to Rita, then Nuala wasn't sure if there would be anything she could do in order to fight him. Chris scared her as a human being, and she didn't want to think about what he would've have been capable of doing whilst under the influence of evil.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**Another alternative ending, I did add the ending of the show into this, but I felt like the comedy ruined to drama and took it out. What are your thoughts on Nuala's theory about Chris? And how did you think this chapter faired. Let me know in the reviews.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 3:27am**


	26. Golden Flea

**Author's Note:** Just so you're all aware. I don't _**have**_ to update. Fanfiction is a _hobby_, not a job. If I don't update every day then it's not my fault, I have a life and other stories that need my attention besides this one. I needed a change in scenery which is why I updated two different stories. So, just so that we're clear _**nagging**_ me for updates isn't going to get you anywhere, if anything it'll just make me put the story off even longer. So, either have a bit of patience or move on because I don't respond to demands. Enjoy the chapter.

**Author's Note Two: **I didn't skip the "Doomsday" arc. It will be shown in the series, but not for a few more chapters. I have an alternative plan on how to write it and it links in with the changes that I am making. I hope you enjoy.

**Dedications:** Thank you to:** Avenger-Ally** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

"That 'Going out of Business' sign is really depressing," Zack said as he braced himself against the bar at the Youth Centre. Either side of him sat Billy and Nuala, the blue Ranger was checking Ernie's account books while the silver Ranger was sipping at her juice, a pained expression on her face.

"Yeah. I can't believe this place is going to close down," Nuala nodded. Her neck and head were the only parts of her body that actually didn't hurt when she moved. "How's it going with the books?" she added to Billy.

"Not good," Billy sighed. "From the looks of these reports Ernie's last quarter operating expenses far exceeded his revenues."

"Huh?" Zack asked, looking confusedly at Nuala.

"He's broke," the silver Ranger translated. "How much do we have in donations?" she asked Zack.

"About enough for a burger and a shake," Zack answered.

Nuala sighed and looked over at Ernie. He was standing at the far end of the bar, his face a picture of desperation. "Poor Ernie," she said. "I've never seen him so bummed ou - OW!" she froze as she twisted her upper body, earning a flare of pain from her muscles.

"You're really hurt, aren't you?" Zack asked trying to contain his chuckles. He had patted Nuala on the shoulder when they had first arrived at the Youth Centre, and she'd nearly taken his head off by shouting at him to not touch her.

Nuala nodded and laid her head on the bar. "I'd forgotten how much it hurt to slip on the ice," she grumbled.

"That pain you feel is shock," Billy said. "When you fell your body protected itself by tensing up, now that you're unwinding your muscles and joints feel stiff and painful."

"Yeah, I know," Nuala said, lifting her head. "But it still hurts like a bitch."

Zack chuckled and lightly placed his hand on Nuala's shoulder. "You're screwed if Rita attacks," he said, half-heartedly.

"You can forget it," Nuala said. "I'm hiding at the command center if she attacks."

"Some superhero you turned out to be," Zack teased.

"Let's see you take a hard fall and walk away from it," Nuala retorted. "When it actually happens the adrenaline is pumping so much that you don't think you've done any harm but the day after? That's when you feel it."

"You're not still complaining, are you?"

Nuala looked up as Ciaran and Jason joined them. They had been over at the park. Jason had promised to show Ciaran a few martial arts moves that he would need to ace his test tomorrow.

"Bite me, Ci," Nuala said. "What's with the dog?"

"We found him at the park," Jason said, petting the head of the shaggy blonde-haired dog in his arms. "How's Ernie doing?"

"Not so good," Zack said. "You found a dog at the park?"

"I know what you're thinking. A lot of people take their dogs to the park, but he's not wearing a collar," Ciaran said.

"What do you think, Nuala?" Jason asked. "Could he just be a stray?"

"I don't think so," Nuala replied. "He may not have a collar but he looks well looked after. Unlike cats, a dog won't groom itself."

"Can we keep him?" Ciaran asked. "I know you tend to go for much bigger dogs, but he's the perfect size for Ellis."

"You can't just take-in a dog, Ci," Nuala said, scratching the dog under the chin. It whined and kicked its legs pleasurably. "Someone could be looking for him. Not to mention Ellis is too young to have a dog, and we already have two. I don't think Chaos and Ceaser would appreciate another dog being brought into the house."

"So what are we going to do?" Ciaran asked. "We can't just let him go, something may happen to him."

Nuala shook her head. "I said we couldn't keep him," she said. "I didn't say we're going to get rid of him."

"He looks dehydrated," Billy pointed out.

"Yeah. Hey, Ernie, can bowl of water, please?" Nuala called over her shoulder.

"Sure thing," Ernie replied disappearing out back. He returned a few minutes later with a bowl of clear liquid which he set on the floor. Jason set the dog down and immediately it started lapping at the cool fluid. "Here. I thought he could use a little pick me up," he added, setting a second bowl of treats down on the floor.

"Thanks, Ernie," Jason said.

"Well, I feel bad for the little guy," Ernie said. "Being away from home and everything. My problems don't seem so terrible all of a sudden."

"We'll figure something out, Ernie," Nuala promised. "Don't give up hope."

Ernie smiled and shrugged lightly. "You're sweet, Nuala," he said. "But I know a lost cause when I see one." He walked away.

"Why do I get the feeling that I just made the situation worse?" Nuala groaned.

"Nah, Ernie knows you mean well," Zack said. "But you're right. We have to figure something out. We can't let the juice bar go out of business."

"Hey, where are Trini and Kim?" Ciaran asked, noticing that the two girls' were missing.

"Kim's practicing for the gymnastic competition this Saturday," Billy answered. "Trini's gone to help her."

Ciaran nodded and looked down at the dog as he whined. "What's the matter, boy?" he asked.

"He probably has to go to the little puppy's room," Zack teased, earning chuckles from his friends.

"You're probably right," Jason agreed. "I should probably take him for a walk."

"We should take him to the animal shelter," Nuala said. "He may not be wearing a collar but he might be chipped. Here. I'll come with you," she added. "I gotta pick up Chaos anyway."

"Why, what happened to Chaos?" Jason asked.

"He went for someone yesterday," Ciaran answered.

"He did?" Zack asked.

Ciaran nodded. "It was self-defence," he said quickly. "Chaos was just being protective."

"What happened?"

"We'd taken Chaos and Ceaser for their evening walk at the park," Nuala answered. "We let them run free for a while, I mean, they're big dogs, they hate being kept on a leash all-day, they need to be able to move. Anyway, while they played Ciaran and I were approached by some guy. He looked like a jogger, but for some reason he stopped to talk to us. The natural instinct of a Rottweiler is to protect, and they very rarely trust a stranger."

"They only trusted you guys because we did," Ciaran said.

Nuala nodded in agreement. "Well, anyway, Chaos didn't like him. He growled, kinda like a warning growl, and when the jogger didn't back off he went straight into attack mode. He didn't bite the guy, but by the time we got him home the police had been called."

"They were waiting for us," Ciaran said. "They said there had been a complaint that one of our dogs had been aggressive towards a jogger at the park. I don't know how they knew it was Chaos but they took him anyway, said that an animal behaviorist would need to determine whether or not he is vicious enough to be let out."

"And they determined that?" Billy asked.

Nuala nodded. "Mum got a phone call this morning saying that we could pick him up later this afternoon," she said. "I said I'd get him because he tends to listen to me a little better."

"Fair enough," Jason said. "Let's go."

"Hey thanks, Ernie," Nuala called, putting the now empty bowls on the bar. She grabbed her over-the-shoulder bag and reached inside. "Here, we can use these until I get Chaos back," she said, pulling out a black and red collar and leash. Jason held the dog firmly while Nuala clipped the collar around his neck; she then clipped the leash to the buckle and stood up. "Ow," she grumbled.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Nuala said. "I just gotta walk it off."

"See you later, guys," Jason said, taking the leash from Nuala and leading the dog away from the bar.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Reaching the animal shelter, Jason stopped outside as the dog sat down and looked up at the building with a whine. "What's wrong, boy?" he asked. "I know you don't want to go, but it'll help us to help you."

"Yeah. They're not going to hurt you," Ciaran said, "and, if push comes to shove, we'll have to take you home until we find your owner."

"You can make the missing posters then," Nuala said. "Look, the vet has to check him over before we can take him home anyway. I can't just bring a stray dog into the house with a one year old baby there."

"What do you expect us to do?" Jason asked.

"Pick him up," Nuala said. "The vet shouldn't take long to check him over."

Jason sighed and scooped up the dog. He carried him into the building and up to the desk where they were met by a friendly looking woman.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"First I am here to pick up a Rottweiler named Chaos," Nuala said.

"Sign here please," the vet said, passing Nuala a few forms and a pen. Nuala signed her name and handed the forms back. "I'll be right back." She disappeared out the back and Ciaran could hear her opening a steel door, next he could her Chaos's rambunctious barks before he came into sight.

"Chaos!" Ciaran exclaimed, happily.

The dog tugged free of the vet and knocked Ciaran over in his haste. He licked the poor boys face, causing him to laugh. The vet smiled and turned to Nuala. "Hard to believe someone would think he's vicious," she said. "He's been a perfect angel."

"Some people automatically think that because he's a Rottie, he's dangerous," Nuala shrugged.

"Too true," the vet agreed. "Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"We found this dog in the park," Nuala said. "Could you give him a routine check-up? I would take him home, but I have a baby and I just want to be sure that he's not carrying anything that is potentially harmful."

"Sure. Do you want to wait or come back and pick him up?" the Vet asked.

"How long is it going to take?" Jason asked.

"Roughly two-three hours," the vet answered. "If he's a stray, it might take a little longer. We have to be sure that he's not carrying anything harmful and isn't flee ridden."

"He seems to be kept in good health," Nuala said, "and he looks well-groomed."

"That helps. But I'd still say roughly 2-3 hours," said the vet.

Nuala nodded and looked to Jason. "We could take Chaos home and come back," she said.

"OK," Jason nodded.

"We'll come back," Nuala told the vet.

"I'll have him ready," the vet said. Jason removed the collar and leash, and handed them back to Nuala for Chaos, he then handed the dog over to the vet and walked outside.

"Thanks," Nuala said after handing the leash to Chaos over to Ciaran. The two siblings then led the way out of the clinic. Outside, Chaos sat down and scratched himself roughly, whining as he tried to reach a spot on his mid-back.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Ciaran asked, scratching the spot for him. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, withdrawing his hand and scratching his arm.

Nuala and Jason, who had been discussing the stray dog, turned around to face Ciaran. "What happened?" Nuala asked.

"Something bit me," Ciaran answered, scratching his arm harder.

"Stop it!" Nuala said. "You'll make the irritation worse."

"But it itches!" Ciaran whined.

"I know. But it could lead to infection."

Ciaran sighed and reverted to rubbing the itchiness away as opposed to scratching. "Argh! It's driving me crazy!" he said, rubbing faster.

"Hey, Chaos, come back!" Nuala shouted as, driven mad with scratching himself, Chaos took off down the street. "Oh, great!" she complained. "We're going to lose him for sure."

"That looks really horrible," Jason said, touching the irritation on Ciaran's arm. As soon as his fingers brushed across the skin, he started itching too. "Oh, god..."

Nuala sighed and turned back to her brother and friend. She needed to go find Chaos, but she also needed to get Jason and Ciaran help. "OK, come on you two," she said. "We've gotta get you some help."

"Where are we going?" Ciaran asked.

"I'll see if Alpha can help," Nuala said.

Ciaran nodded and reached for his communicator. Jason and Nuala did the same and the three of them teleported to the command centre.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

"My epidermal scanner is going haywire," Alpha said as he run a red light up and down both Jason and Ciaran's arms. Already both boys had broken out in an angry red rash.

"What could it be, Zordon?" Trini asked. She, Billy, Kim and Zack had been called back from the gym and Youth Centre after Nuala, Ciaran and Jason had first arrived at the command centre.

"I'm afraid it's quite serious, Rangers," Zordon said. "Rita has finally hatched her fighting flea."

"I should've known Rita was behind this," Jason complained.

"She must've planted the flea on Chaos somehow," Kim said.

"Yes, Kimberly, and the bite is extremely contagious," Zordon confirmed.

"That would explain why it passed from Chaos to Ciaran, and then from Ciaran to Jason," Zack said.

"And if it started with Chaos then that means he's a carrier," Nuala said.

"What about Jason and Ciaran?" Trini asked.

"This spray will temporarily stop the itching," Zordon said. Alpha held a bottle up to Jason's arm and started to spray the rash with it, it worked instantly and the itching stopped. The little robot moved onto Ciaran and the youngest Archer stopped scratching. "However, any contact with Rita's monster will immediately neutralize the formula's power."

"I'll take the data in Alpha's scanner to my lab," Billy said. "Perhaps I can come up with a permanent antidote."

"An excellent idea, Billy," Zordon nodded.

"I'm gonna go with Nuala," Jason said. "I feel responsible for Chaos running off."

"Why do you feel responsible?" Nuala asked. "You didn't make him run away. Rita did."

"What if she sends down her flea monster?" Jason asked. "You'll be a sitting duck."

"You did say just this morning that you couldn't handle a fight," Zack pointed out.

"I'm not going to fight," said Nuala. "I'm going to find my dog. A flea can alter a dog's behavior and Chaos is aggressive enough towards strangers as it is, if he's approached now then he could very well cause a lot of damage. Not to mention he's also going to pass that insect onto anyone that comes in contact with him."

"What if you get bitten?" Billy asked.

"She's immune to flea bites," Ciaran said.

"Not entirely true," Nuala added quickly. "I'm not _immune_, but I'm also not allergic to them. I had my shots when we first adopted Chaos and Ceaser. The family doctor gave them to me and my dad because we handled the dogs more than anyone."

"I'm still going with you," Jason said.

Nuala sighed. Jason was stubborn, and once his mind was made up there was no changing it.

"OK. Zack, Kim and I will check around at the juice bar," Trini said.

"We should check my place first," Nuala said to Jason. "Both Chaos and Ceaser have been trained that in a state of emergency they should come straight home."

Jason nodded.

"I'm coming with you," Ciaran said.

"You're going home and staying there," Nuala said. "I'm not risking anything else happening to you today."

"But I -" Ciaran started to protest.

"You can come with me," Billy offered. "You can test the antidote when I get it."

Ciaran looked delighted with the prospect of having something to do. He didn't want to sit around the house and do nothing. "OK," he agreed.

"Be careful, Power Rangers," Zordon warned them, "and stay in close contact at all times."

The Rangers and Ciaran nodded, touched their communicators and disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Chaos growled in warning as Bulk and Skull cornered him at the park. He was irritated and frustrated by the persistent itching all over his skin, and was in no mood to entertain the bullies that terrorized his mistress and her friends. He recognized the two boys easily, he had chased them and scared them a numerous times in the past, but he had never attacked them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't do it now.

"Why are we doing this again, Bulk?" Skull asked. Chaos scared him, there was no denying that.

"Because, Numbskull, Nuala and her friends have the dog that we want," Bulk said. "If we can get her dog then we can bargain him for the other one and then collect the reward. This mutt has got to be worth more to Nuala than some stray."

"But they dropped the stray off at the animal shelter, why can't we just get him from there?"

"They promised to release him to Nuala and Jason only," Bulk said. "Now, shut up. Come here you little mutt!" he said, lunging for Chaos. He wailed in agony as Chaos growled and latched his jaws around Bulk's wrist. The pain was terrible and blood had already started to rush to the surface, staining Chaos's muzzle crimson.

Skull screamed and scrambled back away from the dog.

"GET HIM OFF ME!" Bulk yelled trying to pull his arm free from the Rottweiler's jaws. But the more he tugged, the more painful it became. Chaos snarled at Skull, he could see the cowering human from the corner of his eye, but he was more concerned with keeping Bulk at bay. He hadn't meant to bite the human, but he couldn't help it.

"Hold on, Bulky," Skull said, scrambling to his feet.

"Where are you going?"

"To get Nuala."

"Skull, you get back here and get this dog off of my arm!" Bulk yelled. Suddenly Chaos let go. Bulk stumbled and hit the ground, his arm was bitten to shreds and blood covered not only the wound but every inch of skin along his forearm.

Whining, Chaos took off again.

A high-pitched squeal of laughter reached Skull and he wheeled around to see a giant orange monster standing behind him. He screamed again and tried to run, tripping over Bulk in the process and causing the bigger bully to shout curses after him. His arm had been completely torn, skin was hanging from a limb and blood was dripping down onto the grass.

Looking up, Bulk saw what had scared his best friend and his eyes widened in panic. He was in no fit state to get up and run, but he also didn't want to stick around and be monster bait. Sliding backwards, he tried to get away but the monster just kept coming.

"HEY!"

Two brightly coloured people jumped over Bulk and landed between him and the monster. They spread their arms protectively and stopped the monster in his tracks. Bulk noticed through the cloudy haze that filled his vision that it was the red and silver Power Rangers.

"Hello, Red Ranger," the flea monster squealed. "I'm so happy to see you again."

"Jase, be careful," Nuala said. "Remember what Zordon said about getting too close."

"I know," Jason nodded. "Let's get to work."

Nuala nodded and dived aside as the flea fired laser blasters at her. She rolled back to her feet and groaned as pain flared up from her joints, but she soon found as the adrenaline kicked in her pain disappeared.

"Nuala," Jason cried, as he crumbled. "Zordon's spray has been deactivated."

"What's the matter, Red Ranger? I thought you were itching to fight me," the flea squealed.

"Stay here," Nuala said, taking a stand in front of her friend. "All right, bug breath, its extermination time." She pulled her power blaster from her hip and jumped at the monster, slashing at him. The monster blocked and knocked her aside with one blow.

"Nuala! Are you all right?" Jason asked, as Nuala hit the ground in front of him.

"I'm OK," Nuala nodded.

"Oh, no, it's getting worse!" Jason cringed as the itching became unbearable.

"As for you, silver ranger, I'll take care of you when I'm finished with your friend."

Clutching her sword tightly, Nuala stood up. "You just stay away from him, alright?" she snapped.

"You think you scare me? Take that!" he laughed, shooting her with irritated spores. They attached themselves to her suit and tried to bury into the spandex. Nuala felt the biting through to her skin, but the irritation never flared up as bad as it had done Jason and Ciaran.

"Nice try," Nuala said, shaking the spores from her suit. "But you're going to have to do better than that."

"What? No!" the monster cried. "How did you evade my spores?"

"I'm immune to your little bites, bloodsucker!" Nuala said, jumping forward again. She swung her sword above her head and this time struck the monster in the stomach. The flea groaned and fell to the floor. "Jason, you alr -" Nuala cut off as she was struck from behind, she fell forward over the flea and rolled over onto her stomach.

Looking up she saw, much to her surprise, another Ranger waking towards her. He was wearing gold spandex and helmet, and wielding a slender, sharply pointed sword that Nuala recognized as a rapier.

"Hello, precious, did you miss me?" the gold ranger asked, walking towards her.

Nuala felt her breath catch in her throat, and tried to scramble away. The gold ranger caught her ankle and pulled her back towards him. "Let me go or I'll scream," she warned.

"Scream all you want, baby, no one's coming to save you this time," the gold Ranger said.

"Don't count on it," Zack shouted as he arrived behind newest Ranger, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away from the silver Ranger.

"Nuala, are you alright?" Billy asked, rushing to his best friend.

Still shaking, Nuala scrambled to her feet and hid behind the blue Ranger. "Keep him away from me," she said.

"Who is he?" Trini asked.

"You can't run from me, Nuala," the gold Ranger said. "You can't hide either. I'll find you. Wherever you go, I'll find you."

"Who are you?" Billy demanded.

The gold Ranger chuckled. "Ask her," he said, sneering at Nuala. "Catch you on the flipside, Power Geeks." He disappeared.

"Nuala?" Zack said, cautiously turning to the silver Ranger. "Do you know him?"

Nuala nodded. She was numb from the whole experience, and unable to grasp the idea of what she had just learned. It couldn't have been true, could it?

"Where's Jason?" Trini asked.

"Over here," Kim called. While the others had dealt with the gold Ranger, she had run off to try and help Jason.

"Jason, I've got the antidote," Billy said, uncapping the spray bottle in his hand.

"Zack, Kim, let's keep this guy busy!" Trini said, running towards the flea. Zack and Kim followed her while Billy and Nuala helped out Jason.

"Oh, great, I was about to go crazy," Jason said. He sighed in relief as the antidote worked effectively from the minute it was sprayed. "I can't believe it. The itch is completely gone."

"Way to go, Billy," Nuala said, nudging her friend affectionately.

"No problem," Billy nodded in return.

"Now, let's get this guy!" Jason said, straightening up. He raced forward with Nuala and Billy in tow. They cut through the others and unleashed a series of attacks against the flea, who was overpowered by the combined force of the three rangers.

"Oh, Red Ranger, still itching for a fight?" the flea squealed.

"Not anymore," Billy said. "My antidote neutralizes the effect of your bite."

"That's not fair!" the flea whined. "You cheated."

"Alright, Power Rangers, how about a little pest control?" Jason asked his friends.

"Right!" the five of them agreed.

"Oh yeah?! Think again, Rangers," the flea said, summoning a small army of putties. "Putties attack!"

The silver foot soldiers swarmed forward and attacked the Rangers. Billy dove to cover Nuala, while Trini, Zack and Kim branched off to deal with their own. This left Nuala and Jason to deal with the flea monster. Suddenly the ground shook and a giant gold Dinosaur, similar to that of T-Rex, thundered towards them.

"What is it?" Kim asked.

"It's a Megalosaurus," Billy answered.

"What do we do?" asked Nuala.

"We need Dinozord power, now!" Jason said. The Power Zords thundered towards the new dinozord, whilst the Rangers eliminated the flea monster before taking to their respective animal. "Rangers, power up your crystals."

The gold Ranger laughed as he squared off against the Megazords battle mode. He flipped several switches inside his cockpit and pushed forward on his controls, firing a massive fireball at them.

A stream of frozen air hit the fireball and it fizzled out.

The gold Ranger growled and rounded onto the Dire Wolf that stood off to his left. She was within striking distance. Opening its jaws again the Megalosaurus fired a fireball at the wolf, but she dived aside and the ball hit a mountain instead.

"Fire cannons!" Jason commanded, hitting the new ranger with the battle mode's cannonballs. "Back off!" he shouted.

The Megalosaurus roared and switched its attention to the now fully formed Power Megazord. "I'm going to tear you Rangers apart!" he threatened. "Starting with you, Nuala!"

"Who is this guy?" Jason asked.

"We don't know," Zack said. "Nuala, he said you would."

"You do know him," Nuala said, quietly. "He's the only person I am truly afraid of."

There was a moment's pause as her words sunk in, and each of the others knew instantly who the gold Ranger was. It was Chris Anderson.

"Come on, Rangers," Jason said, turning back to the Megalosaurus. "We can't let him get us."

"Right!" the others save for Nuala said. She was still numb from the revelation that she wasn't sure of what to do.

"He's charging us," Jason said as Megalosaurus rushed forward. "We need the power sword now!"

With the power sword and dire spear in hand, Jason wielded them both through the air and struck the Megalosaurus twice in the side. Both times he left huge gashes in the exterior of the carnivorous dinozord

"Not so tough now, are you, Anderson?" Zack said laughing as the Megalosaurus exploded.

Chris cried out in alarm and stumbled backwards. Rita had sworn that this battle would be his, and he'd finally get what he wanted. "This isn't over, Nuala," he growled. "You can't hide behind your friends forever. I'll be back and when I return, you're mine!"

He disappeared. Leaving the Rangers victorious once again.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

At the end of the day, after rushing Bulk to the hospital and being at the Youth Centre to meet the owner of the missing dog Nuala and Billy headed home. They talked animatedly about the money that Ernie had received from the 'missing dog' poster, and both were thankful that the juice bar didn't have to shut down. Their conversation shifted to Bulk as they reached the street leading to their houses.

"It may not have been Chaos," Nuala said.

"But what if it was?" Billy asked.

"Then I hope it was in self-defence," said Nuala. "If it wasn't then I'm going to lose him for sure."

"I think you already did," Billy said, pointing at the police car outside of Nuala's home.

The silver Ranger froze and then shot off like a bullet. She cleared the fence with no problem, rushed up the steps and let herself into the house. "Mum, Ciaran?" she called as Billy arrived behind her. He closed the door and caught Nuala as she was nearly knocked off of her feet by Ciaran. The youngest Archer latched onto his sister, tightly and sobbed hysterically into her shirt.

Nuala wrapped her arms around her brother, and rubbed his back soothingly. "What's going on?" she asked, glancing at Billy in concern. The blue Ranger shrugged. Nuala looked into the living room, and found her mother sitting on the sofa hugging Ellis while the police officers stood and turned to face her.

"Miss Archer?" the male asked.

"Yeah," Nuala said.

"I'm Lieutenant Jerome Stone and this is my partner Lieutenant Sarah Bullock," Lt. Stone introduced. Nuala nodded back, still confused on what they were doing at her house. She looked around, hoping to see anything out of the ordinary; it was then that she realized that Chaos and Ceaser were missing.

"Mum, where are the dogs?" Nuala asked. Ciaran tightened his hold around her and fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. Nuala felt herself tense as she looked back to the two Lieutenants'. "Where are my dogs?" she demanded. Billy touched her shoulder calmly. He knew how protective Nuala was of Chaos and Ceaser.

"It's been reported that your dog attacked someone at the park today," Lt. Stone said, consulting his notes. "A Farkas Bulkmeier was seriously injured in the attack."

"If he was bitten then it was his own fault," Nuala said. "I've warned him to stay away from Ceaser and Chaos."

"You are aware that in some states it is illegal to own a Rottweiler, don't you?" Lt. Bullock asked.

"They aren't aggressive by nature," Nuala protested. "They've been trained to accept people, but there are certain people that they won't take too, and no training can force them to do otherwise. Where are they?" she repeated.

"I'm sorry, Miss Archer," Lt. Stone said, shaking his head. He didn't have to finish his sentence; Nuala knew instantly what had happened. Chaos and Ceaser weren't at home because they were gone. She now understood why her brother and mother were so upset. But the main question was: had they witnessed the 'putting down' of their beloved animals or had it happened someplace else?

Either way, Nuala felt numb.

She felt sick and numb.

Her beloved dogs - her family's best friends - had been taken away.

"Get out," Nuala said, clinging to Ciaran for life.

"Miss," Lt. Bullock said. "We have to be sure that you understand that this wasn't something that we wanted. But your dog had been reported once before, and Angel Grove is under law of the 'one-bite' rule which constitutes the first bite as a free one, after that it's classed as aggressive behavior."

"This _was_ his first bite!" Nuala argued. "He didn't attack that jogger, he merely scared him."

"That's not what the report says, Miss."

"Then your report is wrong," said Nuala. "Just because Chaos was a Rottweiler you people think he was aggressive. Chaos may have been a handful, but he wouldn't have hurt a fly. Whatever happened to Bulk was done in self-defence. Both Bulk and Skull have been warned to stay away from Chaos and Ceaser."

"Miss Archer, please calm down," Lt. Bullock said calmly.

"Calm down? _Calm down_?! You've just taken my dogs," Nuala argued. "You had no right to take them. No evidence to prove that Chaos attacked Bulk."

"He was covered in blood."

"So that automatically places him as the suspect?" Nuala asked, angry tears forming in her eyes. "I want you out of my house. Now!"

Lt. Stone and Bullock sighed sadly and walked to the door. "We're so sorry," Bullock said, before leaving. Once the door was closed behind them, Nuala seized a china vase from the table in the hall and threw it at the wall. It shattered upon impact.

She didn't care.

Her dogs were gone.

Taken.

Dead.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

**Dun. Dun. Dunnnnn!**

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Tuesday, July 22, 2014 at 03:55pm**


	27. Confidence Crisis

**Dedications:** Thank you to:** Ulquiorra-Schiffer-4** for adding this story to their favourites. I appreciate it a lot. :)

**Rating:** T for safety

_I don't own Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. But I do own any original characters that are of my own creation._

* * *

**Title:** A Dire Situation

**Summary:** When Nuala Archer moved to Angel Grove to escape her past she never expected the chain of events that would soon follow. With the power of a morpher bestowed upon her, and the fate of the world hanging in the balance, a difficult choice must be made. One that might result in Nuala doing all that she can to keep her head above water.

* * *

It had been nearly two weeks since the incident with the flea.

Two weeks since Chris Anderson had become the Gold Power Ranger.

Two weeks since Chaos and Ceaser had been seized by the authorities and destroyed.

Billy could no longer deny that the effect of losing her beloved animals was taking its toll on Nuala. She'd become distant and uncommunicative. These days she seemed to float everywhere. She wouldn't speak unless spoken too, and even when she did speak it wasn't with the same level of enthusiasm as it used to be. She seemed broken.

"What are we going to do, guys?" Kim asked, watching Nuala from the corner of her eye. It was lunch time and they were in the cafeteria. Nuala was sitting at the far end of the table next to Billy, and playing absentmindedly with her food.

Jason shook his head. He too had noticed the big changes in Nuala's lifestyle, although it wasn't very hard to miss. He had known that Chaos and Ceaser had meant a great deal to the Archer family, but he had never expected them to mean this much. "I dunno," he said, finishing off his lunch.

"Maybe there is nothing we can do," Trini suggested. "Maybe this is just the way Nuala deals with grief and loss."

"We should ask Ciaran," Kim said. "He knows Nuala better than anyone."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Zack said, coming into the conversation. "He's just as torn up as Nuala is. Didn't you notice he wasn't in school today?"

"Ciaran's skipped?" Jason asked.

Billy nodded. Since their first introduction, he had been close with both Nuala and Ciaran - the former more than the latter - but every day before school he would wait for Nuala outside her house, and every day both she and Ciaran would walk to school with him. But today Ciaran was not present.

At the sound of clattering, the Rangers turned to find Nuala setting down her utensils and standing up.

"Hey, you OK?" Jason asked as Nuala picked up her tray. She had barely touched her lunch, but he thought better than to ask her why.

"Yeah," Nuala replied, almost surprised to find them sitting there. "I'm going to head to the library. I've got a few assignments left to write, and if I don't start studying for that science exam on Monday, I'm going to fail."

"You want some company?" Billy asked.

"Maybe later," Nuala said. She picked up her backpack, hooked it over her shoulder and then walked away from the table. The team watched her empty the contents of her lunch tray into the bin, and then leave the room.

The doors swung closed behind her, before reopening and Bulk and Skull walked inside. Bulk's arm was still wrapped in a bandage, and he seemed reluctant to want to take it off.

"Oi, geeks, tell that too-kind-for-her-own-good friend of yours to watch who she's messing with," Bulk said, walking over to the table. "It's her fault that my arm was torn to shreds."

"You had a couple of stitches, Bulk," Trini said. "And it's your own fault for going after Chaos. Nuala warned you several times in the past to stay away from him."

"Whatever. Just tell her to keep that dog on a chain," Bulk said, straightening up. "Another incident like mine and she'll lose him for sure."

"She already did," Billy said. "Your report cost her not one, but both her dogs."

Bulk blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about, Dweeb? I didn't make any report," he said.

"One of you did," Zack said.

Skull looked to Bulk and then back at the Rangers. "Don't look at me," he said. "I went to find Nuala to help. I wouldn't make a report against her dog they scare me." The Rangers could tell that his admission of being scared was genuine. In each encounter that they had been present, Bulk and Skull had always scampered whenever Chaos and Ceaser were on the scene.

"So if Bulk and Skull didn't make the report," Kim said, as the two wannabe bullies walked away. "Who did?"

"Does it matter?" Jason asked. "Nuala still lost her dogs and until we can figure out a way to help her move on, she's going to continue to be nonresponsive."

"So, we're back to my earlier question," said Kim. "What are we gonna do?"

"Hey, you remember what she was like when she found out that Chris was in town?" Trini asked. The others nodded. How could they forget that day, it looked to be one of the harshest days in Nuala's new life.

"What about it?" Kim asked.

"Nuala went camping to clear her head that time," Trini said. "Maybe we could do something like that for her now."

"Another camping trip?" Zack asked.

"Maybe not a camping trip," said Trini. "But she was always in the city with Chaos and Ceaser; maybe if we took her away from this place, only for a few days, it might put her mind at rest. She's obviously not going to forget them in the short amount of time, but it might bring her some solace."

"But where are we going to do?" Kim asked. She was always excited for a weekend away.

"Didn't Nuala say she was studying for the science exam on Monday?" Billy asked.

"Yeah," Zack nodded. "So, what about it?"

"I have an idea," Billy said, standing up. He grabbed his backpack and lunch tray. "Come on. We have to find Nuala."

Following the blue Ranger's lead, the other Rangers left the cafeteria and headed across to the school towards the library.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Nuala sighed as she stared at the science book in front of her. She'd read the same line over and over again several times and not taken in an ounce of understanding. She was more preoccupied with thoughts and memories of Chaos and Ceaser, and the hurt that consumed her.

For the last two weeks she had been waiting for someone to show up and claim ownership over this undeniably awful prank. She was finding it hard to believe that Chaos and Ceaser could actually be gone. They had been more than just pets to her and losing them had opened a painful wound in her heart.

Every memory Nuala had of Chaos and Ceaser was accompanied by the memory of her father - Richard Archer. He had been the only person to train her in looking after a Rottweiler. He had been exceptionally good at keeping a firm hand over the two Rotties. The fact that they were being adopted out of a family that had raised them from pups and into a family that had never handled a dog before was as hard on them as it was the Archer's. The transference had been a success however, and both humans and animals had got on brilliantly.

Every morning and evening Richard Archer would train the dogs. He started off with basic tricks and worked his way up. Living on a farm was a new experience for the two Rotties but they soon learned that not every animal was an enemy. They especially loved to play with the little girl of the house. She was exceptionally gentle-hearted and kind to them; she often snuck them treats from the cupboards and would pretend to drop food from the kitchen table at meal times. They loved her; she was their friend which was why they accepted her when she had started to learn how to handle them.

Over time Ceaser became closer than close with the little girl. He would sleep in her bedroom, always at the foot of the bed watching and protecting her while she slept. Every morning when she awoke, she'd greet him first always with a hug and kiss. He'd follow her downstairs to breakfast where she would sneak him scraps when her parents weren't looking, and then he'd follow her around the farm or watch her riding her horse from the porch.

His brother, Chaos had become close with the little boy of the house. He was even smaller than the girl, and seemed to have no idea how to handle a dog. The adult male was always cautious around Chaos and his son, but the dog always knew to be careful. He may have been curious and a little destructive but he was fiercely protective of the little boy. Some days, when the two children played Chaos and Ceaser would watch them, ready to take down anyone who tried to harm them.

As the years went on, and many things tore the little family apart; the dogs remained true and protected and played with them. The sound of the children's laughter was everything they had ever wanted to hear.

"Wipe those tears."

Nuala jumped and looked up to see her friends had joined her. She had been so far into her own world that she had forgotten where she was in reality, and the second her fantasy bubble popped, Nuala wished for it back. The harsh reality of losing her best friends was way too much for her to handle.

"What's going on?" Nuala asked, wiping her tears on the hem of her sleeve.

"We were thinking - well, I was thinking," said Billy, nervously. "Since we've all got to study for this test on Monday, maybe we could study together?"

"I'm not going to be much company," Nuala said. "If I'm honest, I just really want to be alone. I can't concentrate on anything right now, all I can think of is Chaos and Ceaser."

"That's why we were thinking that we could study somewhere that doesn't remind you of them," said Kim. "You know a place that you've never been with them."

"Like where?" Nuala asked. "I've pretty much been everywhere with them."

"My uncle has a resort up in mountains," Billy said. "You haven't taken them there."

Nuala stared at the blue ranger in consideration. She then looked down at her notes; she hadn't taken many, but rather wrote 'Ceaser' and 'Chaos' over and over again in black ink. She slammed the notebook closed and looked back up at her friends. "You really want to help, don't you?" she asked.

"We know how much Chaos and Ceaser meant to you, but we hate seeing you like this," Jason said.

"So what do you say?" Zack asked.

Biting her lower lip, Nuala looked at Billy. "I'd love too," she said. "But there is the minor detail of me having a son to worry about."

"That's no worry," Billy said, smiling. "We wouldn't expect you to leave him home, right guys?" He looked to his friends.

"Are you kidding?" Kim asked. "A weekend away in the mountains wouldn't be the same without little tiger toes."

Nuala smiled at the pink Ranger, and nodded in agreement with her friend's decision to leave town. Maybe a weekend away is what she needed, especially if it was going to help her ace a test that she knew she was going to fail.

"Awesome. So, we all meet at Billy's first thing in the morning," Jason said.

"Deal," the others agreed.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Up on the moon, Chris paced angrily around the throne room. He couldn't believe that his first attempt at being the Gold Power Ranger had been thwarted by pesky punks that Nuala now called 'friends'. When he had come to Angel Grove looking for her he didn't anticipate hitting a road block like this. Nuala had never been the 'popular' girl, she was always a wallflower, it was partly the reason he had chosen her as a perfect target. However, despite not being too popular, Nuala wasn't bad looking. She wasn't supermodel material, but she also wasn't unattractive.

Red hair was a rare sight to find - not just for females, but for males too - but Nuala Archer was a natural. She was a one-of-a-kind sort of girl, and he wanted her. He wasn't sure exactly why he wanted her, but he did know that for some ritualistic purpose he needed to destroy her. He'd always been that way, ever since he had been a child, if he had wanted something he always had to have it, and if he couldn't have what he wanted, he set out to destroy it. His psychiatrists called him an 'Obsessive.'

Nuala Archer just so happened to be something that he wanted - badly. There was just one thing wrong with his newfound toy. She was underage. He had first met her when she was fourteen, she was just starting pair skating and they needed someone experienced to show her the ropes. He had been the only person free to help her; they had become partners after that, and gone on to win several gold medals in pair-skating. From the minute he had seen her, Chris knew that he needed to have her. But the fact that she was only fourteen held him back, in his mind a girl had to be at least sixteen before you could get anywhere with her.

Over the two years that they knew each other, Nuala shared everything with Chris. She trusted him, but that just made it more enticing for him. The trust between them was just his way of getting closer to her, closer to breaking her. He knew her inside and out, and he would use this later on when he chose his perfect time to strike. Despite being an obsessive-compulsive, he was patient. And then, literally two weeks after her sixteenth birthday, he attacked. She had been at the ice rink, just blowing off some steam; when her friend, he believed his name to be Adam Park had come to get her. Chris had watched them from the shadows, he was envious of the way Adam looked at Nuala, it was obvious that there was something between them, and Chris hated the idea of another guy getting cozy with something he believed to be his.

He watched as Nuala broke away from Adam and headed in his direction. He slipped back into the locker rooms, hiding out of sight, and waited to strike. Nuala had her back to him, rummaging around in her locker. He crept up behind her, hit her across the back of the head and dragged her into the shower area. Despite everything he knew about Nuala, Chris never expected her to put up a fight. She had hit him several times in the chest and face, forcing him to pin her wrists above her head. She had kicked at him, leaving him to hold her down by using his own legs to pin hers to the floor. He then had his way with her, relishing in the fact that he was finally getting what he wanted.

If only he had known the consequences of his actions, he may have taken the precaution of using protection. But he had been so focused on getting Nuala that he hadn't worried about a thing. Twelve months later, while on trial for the rape of Nuala Archer, Chris learned from his mother that Nuala had given birth to a healthy baby boy. It was no coincidence that the baby was his, Nuala had been a virgin when he had attacked her; there was no one else other than him. He was furious.

"Snap out of it, kid," Scorpina hissed as she shoved Chris from his thoughts.

The adult human male glared at the mutant female. "What?" he snapped in response.

"Something's happening," Scorpina said. "Rita requests your presence."

Chris shook his head to clear his thoughts and followed Scorpina out of the room. Rita was with Goldar in the room off the hall, and they were talking about some sort of Crystal when Scorpina returned with Chris. "What's going on?" he asked.

"The Crystal of Nightmares," Goldar replied.

"The what?" Chris asked.

"It's a crystal ball that will cause the Rangers to dream only of defeat," Goldar explained. "It will then destroy their confidence forever."

"Why should we care about that?" Chris asked. "More importantly, why should I care about it?"

"Without self-confidence the Ranger's powers will be worthless," Goldar said.

Chris looked thoughtful as he processed Goldar's words. Without self-confidence Nuala wouldn't be able to fight back. She'd finally be his again. "Excellent," he murmured, rubbing his hands together.

~***A Dire Situation*~**

Early the next morning, the Rangers and Ellis arrived at the 'Forest Creek Cabins' resort owned by Billy's uncle. Despite the reason for why her friends had brought her here, Nuala found she was relatively excited to be up in the mountains.

Snow covered the ground, and Nuala couldn't help but smile at the sight. She loved the snow. Especially since snow meant ice, and ice meant skating. But she knew there would be no skating this weekend, she was here to study for the test on Monday, not to have fun.

After being getting set up in their rooms. Trini and Kim were sharing, as well as Billy, Zack and Jason; Nuala had been given her own room since she had to accommodate for Ellis as well as herself, but her room was right in between her friends, so she literally was only separated by a two walls. The team then congregated in the boy's cabin, bringing their science books with them.

Nuala crawled up onto Billy's bed and sat cross-legged with Ellis in her lap. She opened her book beside her and smiled as the blue Ranger straightened himself out in front of her. For Nuala, a girl who should've been scared to death of getting close to another male, found it rather odd at times at how comfortable she was around Billy. He was nothing like Chris, he had never forced her to do something that she didn't want to do, and he was so gentle and kind to her. He had offered her up to his uncle's cabin not to take advantage of her, but to help her in her time of need.

Opening his book to the first chapter, Billy read loud and clears for his friends to hear him. Often or not Billy would catch Nuala taking notes or highlighting the pages of her science book with a yellow highlighter. He noticed, as he continued to read, that some parts of the book were highlighted in different colours. Most were yellow, others were green and there was a large section of chapter eight that was highlighted in red. He made a mental note to ask what each colour meant later.

"And thus, diffusion is the movement of molecules by random motion of a higher concentration to one of a lower concentration," said Billy, as he reached the end of the chapter.

"Yes," Zack exclaimed, closing his book. "That is the end of chapter eight."

"This was such a great idea. All of us studying together," said Kim, patting Trini on the leg.

"Yeah, and we've already made significant progress in preparing for the exam," Billy said, standing up and stretching.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry," Trini said, sitting up and facing Kim.

"You can't eat that, it's yucky!" Nuala said, taking her green highlighter from Ellis. As soon as the pen was out of his hands, Ellis started to cry.

"I think he agrees with you, Trini," Jason teased.

Nuala smiled and, taking Billy's hand, slid off of the bed and stood up. She pivoted Ellis on her hip and bounced him to soothe him. "If eating my highlighters are anything to go buy, I'd say you were right, Jase," she said.

"So, I'm guessing that's a sign to take a break and get something to eat?" Zack asked.

"Oh, I hope so," Jason said, standing up. He'd been lying on the floor on his stomach. "I could use a big burger."

"No, Chinese food," Trini said, shaking her head.

"I just want a salad," Kim said.

"I think I'd rather tacos," added Billy.

"How about liver?" Zack asked.

"Liver?" Nuala asked. "Urgh! That's just nasty!"

"Alright, little miss, what are you hungry for?" Zack asked, tickling her sides. Nuala shrieked in protest and dived around Kim and Billy to get away from Zack.

"Honestly? I'm not that fussy," Nuala replied. "But he is," she nodded at Ellis. "I gotta stop by my room to get his stuff. You guys go on without me, I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?" Trini asked.

"Yeah," Nuala said, heading in the direction of her room. She opened the door and scurried inside, setting Ellis down on the bed and grabbing his baby bag from the corner. She fished around inside, making sure that she had everything she needed when the door opened behind her. Glancing back, Nuala found Billy standing on the threshold.

"I thought I'd wait," he said.

Nuala forced a smile and turned back to Ellis.

"You weren't going to catch up, were you?" Billy asked.

Finding that she couldn't lie to him, Nuala shook her head.

"What's going on?" Billy asked.

"Other than the obvious," Nuala said, closing the baby bag and sitting on the edge of her bed. She took Ellis into her arms as he crawled into her lap, and started to play with the amethyst necklace around her neck. The jewel was his birthstone, and Nuala had received it on the day of his birth.

"I know you miss them," Billy said, sitting opposite her. "But you can't shut yourself off. Nuala, you're doing yourself more harm than good like this. Chaos and Ceaser wouldn't like to see you this way."

"You don't know what I owe them," Nuala said. "Chaos and Ceaser were there for me when my father died. I hated everything when he left. I blamed everyone, including myself. When I lost my dad, my best friend, I wanted to shut the world out and never seen anything or anyone again. I hated everything... except them. I could never hate them. Ceaser was always there, every morning, at the foot of my bed, seeing him seemed to make everything OK. Having them around made it feel like my dad was still around." She dried the tears that had formed in her eyes. "But now they're gone, and in losing them, it feels like I am losing him."

Billy felt his heart break as he watched Nuala breakdown in front of him. He wanted to reach out and hug her, to promise her that as long as she still had the memories of her father, Chaos and Ceaser, they would never truly be gone. Instead he touched her hand. She tensed, and then relaxed. Her arm tightened around her son, who was trying to catch the tears that run down his mother's cheeks. He giggled as each one slipped from her chin and splattered into his palm.

Nuala smiled and kissed her son's head. It was hard to be upset when he was around. He was her little ray of sunshine, her guiding light in the dark.

"I know it is hard," Billy said. "I lost my mom, so I know what grief feels like. But you're not alone, Nuala, you still got me and the others. You've got Ellis, Ciaran and your mum. We'll help you through this. It won't be easier and it won't be the fast track, but we won't let you go through it alone."

"Thanks, Billy," Nuala said, drying the last of her tears. "I promise I won't always be like this. It's just..."

"I know," Billy said, nodding. "And it's OK. We all deal with loss differently. Some get angry, some get sad, and then there are those that lock themselves away. You're not the only one who hates to face the world after loss. I did the same."

"You did?" Nuala asked.

Billy nodded. "Yeah, but I had my friends," he said. "They helped me through it."

"Then I'm glad that you're friends are now my friends," Nuala said. "And as long as I got you, then I'll be fine."

"Now, we should go, before the others start to worry," said Billy. He stood up and held his hand out to Nuala; she took it and stood beside him. "Oh, that reminds me, you were taking notes earlier, highlighting certain points in your science book." Nuala nodded. "What does each colour mean?"

Nuala closed the door behind them as they stepped outside. She hooked Ellis' baby bag over her shoulder, and walked alongside Billy as they went in search of the others. "Green is for the things I understands, yellow is for 'I'm working on it,' and red means 'I have no clue.' I'm mostly using red."

"You really don't understand science?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Maybe with a little help we can change that."

Nuala glanced at Billy and smiled. "I hope so," she said, nodding.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Later that evening, after getting something to eat and relaxing after a hard study morning, the team returned to their respective cabins for a well-deserved rest. Ellis, who had already fallen asleep, curled up in his mother's arms and clung to her shirt tightly in his little hand.

Wanting to grab her science books from the boy's room, Nuala followed Billy, Jason and Zack inside before leaving them and returning to her own room. She promised Billy that she wouldn't spend the whole night studying, despite it being something he would've done if given the chance; but the silver Ranger wanted something to keep her occupied if she actually found herself unable to sleep again that night.

Once behind closed doors, Nuala changed Ellis into his pajamas and cuddled him up in her own bed. There was a crib in the corner of the room but since the return of Chris, Nuala was hesitant to leave her son go, even for a few hours. Instead she made sure he was comfortable in the centre of the bed, and then sat beside him with her school books. She opened them to chapter eight, grabbed her notebook and started to jot down everything that she failed to understand.

Before she even realised it, Nuala had worked well into the night. It was dark outside by the time she had given up on Chapter eight, and the feeling of dread and failure was starting to pool in the pit of her stomach. She'd never been a straight 'A' student, but the idea of getting an 'F' wasn't appealing. Unfortunately science had always been a subject that Nuala had never understood, but she'd always, somehow, managed to scrape by with a 'D' - and that was mostly because her grandparents had been rather good at science.

Glancing at the clock, Nuala sighed as she saw the time to be 3:00am. She groaned and stretched, cracking her neck and back muscles. She'd already broken her promise to Billy, but he didn't need to know that she'd been up half the night studying. If she put things away now, and got some sleep then maybe she could pass it off. She didn't really want to lie to him, but she also didn't want him to feel disappointed in her not listening to him, and breaking their promise.

Once everything was packed away, Nuala changed into her pajamas and climbed under the covers beside Ellis. She wrapped her arm around him, kissed the top of his head, and then buried her face into her pillow. The second her eyes closed her dreams started to rage.

She dreamt of her father, and how she had failed him as a daughter. As he lay dying in hospital, she had promised to never give up on her figure skating. It had cost the Archer family a lot to make her the best of the best in the world of figure skating, and her quitting, no matter what the reason, would be a huge disappointment. Richard Archer was not happy that his daughter had quit. He was also upset at her for having a child under the age of eighteen. He didn't care for the reason of how she had come to have Ellis, but he was angry at her decision to keep him.

_"You're a disappointment, Nuala, I thought I raised you better than this," Richard said._

_"But, Daddy, I -"_

_"I don't care!" Richard snapped. "You should've gotten rid of it. What good could the son of a rapist possibly bring you? And worst of all, you let him ruin your chances of becoming world famous in figure-skating. You make these promises but you never keep them. Stupid, foolish girl."_

_Nuala bowed her head as tears dripped from her eyes. Her father was right. She had been foolish, she was a disappointment. She didn't deserve to be his daughter, or deserve the help he had given her._

_Falling to her knees, Nuala buried her head in her hands and cried. She wanted to wake up. She was ready to wake up. "Wake up," she muttered, rocking back and forth on her knees. "Wake up... wake up... wake up... WAKE UP!"_

She awoke with a scream. A scream that jolted Ellis from his sleep, he started to cry and it took Nuala a minute longer to realise that she was actually safe in her bed at the Forest Creek cabins. Sunlight streamed in through the half-closed blinds and the numbers on the digital clock told her that it was early morning.

_Knock. Knock._

Jumping, Nuala climbed out of bed, scooped up Ellis and soothed him as she opened the door. Billy and the others stood on the other side, they each looked as nervous as she felt.

"I'm guessing by those looks, I'm not the only one who had a nightmare last night, huh?" Nuala asked, opening the door wider to let her friends inside.

"It was horrible," Kim said, closing the door behind her as she was the last one in.

"It was truly disturbing," Billy agreed.

The others nodded, finding that they couldn't disagree with either Billy nor Kim. Neither one of them knew the true extent of what their friends had seen, but the fact that they had all experienced a nightmare was enough.

Suddenly Jason's communicator beeped. Startling the team and causing them to jump.

"Oh, no! Zordon," Kim panicked.

"You know, I don't know if I'm ready for another of Rita's monsters," Zack said.

"Me either," Trini agreed.

"I don't think I'll ever be," Billy admitted.

The communicator beeped again.

"Guys, I know we're scared, but we have to answer," said Jason, clenching and unclenching his fists in anticipated anxiety.

"As much as I would like to hide out here for the rest of my natural born life," said Nuala. "I actually agree with you."

Jason looked around at the others. It seemed, even with Nuala in agreement with him, the others were still hesitant. He couldn't blame them. If they didn't have confidence in their abilities as Power Rangers, how could they possibly fare well in a battle against Rita.

"This is Jason, Zordon," the red Ranger said after a moment's hesitation.

"_Power Rangers, I am aware of the terrible nightmares you've experienced,_" Zordon explained.

"Zordon, I'm afraid we've lost confidence in our abilities," Billy said.

"It's the island of illusions all over again," Nuala said. "Only this time we don't have anyone here to help us."

Trini and Zack nodded in agreement.

"_This was exactly Rita and Chris's plan,_" Zordon said. "_Without self-confidence, your powers are completely useless._"

"So that's it," said Zack, pacing up and down Nuala's room. "We're through."

"_Fortunately, Alpha has located the Crystal of Nightmares,_" Zordon added. "_Goldar used it to manipulate your minds. You must destroy it. That will release you from your fears._"

"No way. I am hanging up my communicator," Kim said, wringing her hands nervously.

"I don't know if we can do it, Zordon," Trini said, sliding off of Nuala's bed and walking over to Jason.

"_You can and you will,_" Zordon said. "_Nuala, Alpha will teleport Ellis here for safety. Believe in yourselves, Power Rangers, and you __**will**__ succeed._"

With a flicker of white light, Ellis disappeared from his mother's arms. Nuala gasped as she felt completely vulnerable without him. It was as if his presence acted like a shield, an impenetrable shield that kept her fears and insecurities at bay.

"_Good luck, Power Rangers, may the power protect you,_" said Zordon as he teleported his team to the rock quarry on the other side of Angel Grove.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

The minute they arrived, Nuala latched onto Billy as Jason led them towards a rock formation that covered most of the quarry. They not only used it as a cover from the putties that swarmed the area, but crept around it to the entrance of the cavern. It had to be the main entrance point to the crystal of nightmares.

"We don't stand a chance," Nuala whispered. "Not just against the putties, but we don't even know what's lurking inside the darkness."

"Um, I need to go back to town, you guys," Kim said. "So just let me know how it turns out, all right?" She backed away from her friends, but didn't get far before she walked straight into a swarm of putties that had found them. Kim screamed, startling her friends and the rest of the foot soldiers.

"Spread out!" Jason yelled. He, Zack and Trini immediately dispersed, leaving Billy, Kim and Nuala to fend for themselves. The battle was harder without their powers or self-confidence they were easier targets than normal.

Nuala gasped as two putties kicked her in the stomach, knocking her over onto the floor. She squeaked as another jumped over his two companions and landed on top of her. In her defense, Nuala locked her legs around the Putties and twisted her hips; the putty fell from her waist and rolled into the mouth of the cave.

Rolling back to her feet, Nuala stared into the darkness. It looked both terrifying and inviting, and she could hear a faint voice in the back of her head telling her to go inside. The Crystal of Nightmares was in there, if she could destroy it then she and her friends would be released from their fears, maybe she could appease her father by doing something good for a change.

Glancing around, Nuala spotted Jason fighting near-by. "Jason," she called. All she had to do was get his attention and let him know that she was going for the Crystal, at least then if anything did happen, someone would've known where she was.

"I'm right behind you, Nuala," Jason called back. "Guys, keep them busy. Nuala and I are going for the Crystal." He quickly finished with the putties he had been fighting, and chased the silver Ranger into the cave.

"JASON!"

Jason stopped dead in his tracks as he reached the end of the cave. Ahead of him he saw Nuala in the arms of the gold Ranger, she was struggling to be released, but Chris had her up against the cavern wall, his hand around her throat. "Nuala," he called, racing towards her. He stopped for a second time as Goldar stepped into his path.

"Looks like your bad dreams just got worse, Ranger?" Goldar taunted.

"Jason, get the crystal!" Nuala yelled, before choking as Chris's hand tightened around her throat.

Jason looked torn. He needed to help Nuala, but he also needed to get the crystal.

"You can save them all, Jason," Goldar laughed. "So what's going to be? Your friend or the crystal?"

"Hang tight, Nuala," Jason called.

Goldar laughed. "Wrong choice, Ranger," he said. "Chris, take her away."

"No! Get off her!" Jason shouted as Chris grabbed Nuala by the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Let me go! Let go!" Nuala screamed as Chris dragged from the cave.

"No, Nuala!" Jason yelled.

Goldar laughed coldly.

Jason clenched his hands into fists and turned on the overgrown monkey. "That's it, you big gold goon, come and get me!" he said.

"My pleasure," Goldar said. He raised his sword above his head and charged at the red Ranger. Knowing that his only way to save Nuala was by destroying the Crystal, Jason ducked under Goldar's attack and rolled back to his feet behind the pedestal and Crystal. "There is nothing you can do, Jason, your nightmare is about to become my reality."

"Dream on!" Jason shouted. He kicked up at the crystal and knocked it from its pedestal. The orb hit the ground and shattered, releasing the darkness from the inside.

Meanwhile outside, Nuala resisted the urge to struggle as her father's voice echoed deep inside her mind.

"_Nuala, remember, a challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it._"

"_I just don't want to disappoint you."_

_"You could never disappoint me, precious; I love you no matter what."_

Smiling at the memory of she and her father, Nuala took Chris by surprise when she swung her leg down and kicked him in the stomach. He groaned and fell forward, dropping Nuala onto the dirt floor as he tried to regain his breath.

"Nuala, are you alright?" Zack asked, rushing over to help the silver Ranger stand. He took one look at Chris and put himself, protectively, between the gold and silver Rangers.

"Get up, you useless human," Scorpina snarled at Chris as she landed beside him. She gripped his forearm tightly and tugged him back to his feet. As soon as Chris had regained his stability and got his breath back, they were joined by Jason.

Jason rushed out of the cave, dived over Scorpina and Chris and regrouped with his friends. "No more fooling around, Rangers," he said. "It's morphin' time!" He reached behind him for his power coin and morpher, while the others followed his lead.

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Dire Wolf!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Power Rangers!"

Chris laughed and reached for his own power coin. "Impressive," he smirked. "But not intimidating - Megalosaurus!" As soon as Chris had morphed into his golden suit, the ground shook and his Zord trampled onto the scene, all the while Rita used her magic wand to make Scorpina and Goldar grow.

"Nuala, you don't have to do this," Jason said, glancing over his shoulder.

"I want too," Nuala replied. "I've come this far. I'm not giving up now."

Jason nodded and turned to the others. "All right, Rangers, we need Dinozord power, now!" he said, summoning the Zords from the Zord bay.

"Let's send them back to Rita!" Nuala said, as her Dire Wolf broke a part to create the power spear.

Chris fired several fire balls at the Power Megazord; however they were blocked by the dire shield. The gold Ranger growled in annoyance and lunged at the Rangers, only to pull back as Nuala spun the spear around and stabbed at him. Seeing as his Zord hadn't fully healed from the last battle with the Rangers, he had to withdraw.

"Pathetic!" Scorpina hissed, lunging forward. She slashed at the Rangers with her sword and caused significant damage both inside and outside the Megazord.

"Stabilizers are out," Jason confirmed. "We need more power."

Swinging her tail around, Scorpina wrapped her stinger around the Megazord and channeled high voltages of power into it. The Rangers cried out in agony as they were electrocuted.

Using their disadvantage to his own advantage, Chris charged at the Megazord and head-butted it. The Power Megazord keeled over and the ground shook as it landed up against a mountain.

"Take that!" Scorpina hissed.

"You're finished, Power Rangers," Chris said, standing over the Megazord. He powered up the fireballs again and pushed forward on his controls.

Using the last of her strength, Nuala forced the shield up over the Megazord and deflected the fireballs. Again, Chris growled and tore the shield away. He then used his sword to disarm the Megazord of its dire spear and the Silver Ranger.

As her Zord reassembled, Nuala forced it to its feet and fired ice pellets at the Megalosaurus Dinozord. Surprised at her boldness, Chris turned on her and snarled.

"You're fighting me?" he yelled.

Nuala trembled in her seat, but refused to back down. Her father's words about an obstacle only being a challenge when you bowed down to it seemed to fit into any scenario, and it was those words that seemed to be giving her strength.

With Chris's attention diverted, the Power Megazord made it back to its feet and summoned the power sword.

"No!" Scorpina hissed.

Cutting across Chris's advances on Nuala, the Rangers shoved him back at Scorpina, knocking them both off balance. Scorpina growled at the gold Ranger and stood up, before she was knocked back down by the full energized power sword.

"We'll get you next time, Rangers," Scorpina swore as she disappeared.

Chris punched his controls as his Dinozord exploded both inside and out. "Watch your back, Nuala," he threatened. "One day soon, your ass is mine!"

He disappeared.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

Goldar growled as Chris reappeared in the throne room. Scorpina had told him everything that had happened on Earth, and how Chris was more concerned with what happened to silver Ranger than finishing off all the Rangers. Goldar, being the captain of the guard meant that he had to deal with any problems that went wrong.

"What the hell happened?!" Goldar thundered as he stormed towards Chris. He raised his sword but the adult male human blocked it with his own.

"What now?!" Chris snapped.

"Your infatuation with the silver Ranger cost you again, Anderson," Scorpina said.

"It's not an infatuation," Chris snarled. "That bitch is mine."

"Unless you can keep your emotions under control, you'll stay here during battle with the Rangers," Goldar said. "You're lack of control around the silver Ranger will constantly be a downfall otherwise."

"I have control."

"It didn't seem that way to me," Scorpina said.

Chris glared at her and then spotted Finster over her shoulder. "Besides, why are you assuming that it is my fault?" he asked. "Finster is the one who supplied me with the badge of darkness and the Megalosaurus. It's his fault that the stupid Zord lacks power."

Finster surprised that his name was being drawn into the argument between Chris, Goldar and Scorpina shook his head and removed his glasses. "The badge of darkness was adequate enough and so was the Megalosaurus Zord. I'll admit that it wasn't fully up to power, but I did warn you of that before you took it," he said to Chris.

"Then make sure it's ready for battle next time, you overgrown rat!" Chris snapped at the dog-faced minion.

"I say, young man, there is no need for that," said Finster.

"Don't tell me what to do," Chris snarled. "I don't take orders from you."

"But you do me," Goldar said, shoving Chris up against the wall again. "Either you get your head out of the clouds and focus on the mission or you remain behind next time. Now, make yourself useful and check on the secret weapon. We may need it for our next battle against the Rangers."

Chris glared at Goldar. He hated being told what to do, but deciding to avoid an on slaughter with the golden monkey, Chris sheathed his sword and walked out. The next time he faced Nuala and her cohort of friends, he'd be ready. She wouldn't escape him this time, not when he'd have help from another familiar face.

**~*A Dire Situation*~**

After a weekend away from Angel Grove, Nuala wasn't completely sure she was happy to be back. It was Tuesday morning, the day after her science exam, and her nerves were already starting to get the better of her. She was pretty sure she had failed.

"Nervous?" Jason asked, leaning forward on his desk behind Nuala.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Nuala said, clutching her stomach with one hand, and covering her mouth with the other.

Jason chuckled and patted her shoulder. "You'll be fine," he assured her.

"I'm pretty sure I failed."

"Then we all did," Zack said. "Seeing as we stuck together on this."

"But I suck at science," Nuala protested.

"Well here's the moment of truth," Trini said as Mr. Caplan walked in. He was carrying a stack of papers which he set down on the desk.

"Class," Mr. Caplan addressed as he looked up at the students. "Since Miss Appleby is ill today I thought I would fill in for her, so I could deliver these test results personally. Congratulations," he muttered handing putting the papers down on the respective Rangers desks. "All of _you_ got 'A's."

Nuala stared transfixed and surprised at her paper. She picked it up and quickly and skimmed through Miss Appleby's comments, smiling brightly as she got to the end.

"Hey, Nuala," Jason whispered, leaning forward.

Nuala turned in her seat and shrugged at her friend. "What?" she asked.

"I told you so," Jason teased.

Childishly, Nuala stuck her tongue out at the red Ranger, causing him and the others to chuckle at her. They then returned their attention to Caplan as he called Bulk and Skull to the front of the class. Bulk's arm was still covered in a white bandage, and when she saw it, Nuala slid down in her seat.

"Hey," Billy whispered, leaning over and nudging her. "Remember, don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

A small, yet sad smile, graced Nuala's lips and she lifted her gaze to meet Billy's. "Thanks," she murmured.

"Read them and weep," Caplan said, handing Bulk and Skull their exam papers. The two opened them to see a large, inky 'F' circled in red at the top left hand corner.

"Hey, Bulk, the plan worked!" Skull exclaimed happily. "We didn't get 'D's. No detention!"

"Will you shut up?" Bulk asked.

"Do you know what 'F' stands for, gentlemen?" Mr. Caplan asked.

"Fun?" Bulk asked.

"Far out?" Skull added, looking expectant. But both knew that there were trouble.

"No!" Caplan snapped, walking around the desk. He seized a piece of chalk and wrote the word 'forever' on the blackboard. "This is how long you'll be staying after school in my office."

"That was my next guess," Bulk sighed, grumpily.

"I'm very disappointed in you gentlemen," Caplan continued, brandishing a board duster at the two. Bulk's face contorted, and he looked ready to sneeze. "What's wrong with him?" Caplan asked, as Skull looked on nervously.

"Take cover!" Skull yelled, ducking behind Caplan. The principal, however, wasn't so lucky, as Bulk sneezed he blew Caplan's toupee from his head, much the amusement of the rest of the class.

* * *

**Copyrighted ©**

_**Apologies for taking almost a week to get this out. I know I'm becoming a sucky updater. But life has been hectic. From tomorrow onwards I will be job seeking, so updates may get even slower, but I won't abandon. You have my word.**_

**Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx**

**Chapter updated Sunday, July 27, 2014 at 11:49pm**


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